The Weighing of Substances (Aurora Consurgens)

This illumination features two figures against a solid red background. On the left, a woman wearing a blue gown and a reddish headband sits on the ground, leaning over a wooden table; she holds a small, round object in her right hand, while several other dark, spherical objects are arranged on the table surface. On the right, a woman in a green gown and a matching red headband stands holding a large blue bird on her left arm. With her right hand, she supports a balance scale, the pans of which contain small, indistinct golden-colored material.

This image is a folio from the 'Aurora Consurgens', a 15th-century alchemical treatise attributed to Pseudo-Aquinas. The figures represent the personification of alchemical processes, emphasizing the necessity of precise measurement and the observation of physical changes during the 'Great Work'.