Alchemist Sifting Matter before the Phoenix

A figure with curly hair wearing a long, bright green tunic and blue hose is positioned on the left, holding a small bowl and pouring a granular substance onto a rectangular board. To the right, a large, stylized bird with iridescent plumage—a phoenix—is depicted perched atop a jagged, light-colored rock formation emerging from stylized red flames. Between the figure and the bird stands a large, reddish-brown stone mortar with a pestle resting inside it. The entire scene is set against a flat, vibrant blue background, framed by a thin orange border.

This illumination is a classic example of visual symbolism from the 'Aurora consurgens', an early 15th-century alchemical treatise attributed to pseudo-Thomas Aquinas. The phoenix represents the 'resurrection' or final stage of the alchemical process, where the matter is purified and transformed, paralleling the transmutation of base metals into gold.