Splendor Solis

Perhaps the most beautiful of all illuminated manuscripts about alchemy was made in Germany in 1582. The book contains the work known as Splendor Solis or ‘Splendour of the Sun’. The authorship of Splendor Solis is unknown, but it has often been attributed in error to Salomon Trismosin, a man who claimed to have used the Philosopher's Stone to conquer old age. This page shows an alchemist holding a flask filled with a golden liquid. A black scroll emerges out of the flask, inscribed with the words ‘Eamus quesitum quatuor elementorum naturas’. This is Latin for ‘Let us ask the four elements of nature’.

SPLENDOR SOLIS (GERMANY, 1582)

British Library

“The splendid gold border on this page is equally as impressive as the portrait in the centre. The frame has been painstakingly decorated with pictures of flowers, birds and animals – among them a peacock, a stag and an owl.”

Julian Harrison
Lead Curator

‘A stone that makes gold and stops you ever dying!’ said Harry. ‘No wonder Snape's after it! Anyone would want it.’

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

SPLENDOR SOLIS (GERMANY, 1582)

British Library

SPLENDOR SOLIS (GERMANY, 1582)

British Library