The Slayer and the Maiden Dissecting the Dragon

This illumination depicts two figures positioned on either side of a large, green, winged dragon. On the left, a figure in a blue tunic, chainmail, and a golden crown stands, holding a curved blade to the dragon's throat. Opposite, a dark-skinned figure wearing a white garment kneels, pinning the dragon down and pulling at its midsection. The background is a solid, vibrant red, and the dragon rests on a simple green ground line.

This image is a folio from the 'Aurora consurgens', an important 15th-century alchemical treatise attributed to Pseudo-Aquinas. It symbolizes the chemical processes of putrefaction and transformation, where the dragon represents the prima materia that must be dismantled to achieve the philosopher's stone.