Enigma Chimicum Secundum

A woodcut illustration depicts a bearded man in a hooded monastic robe sitting frontally on a bench within a simple architectural space. He holds an open book toward the viewer; the left page features a winged dragon biting its tail (ouroboros) and a human face in a crescent moon, while the right page depicts a radiant sun with a human face surrounded by smaller stellar or lunar motifs. The line work is bold and graphic, set against a plain, off-white background.

This image illustrates an alchemical enigma concerning the cyclical nature of transmutation, where the dragon representing the volatile prima materia is reconciled with solar and lunar principles. It is characteristic of 17th-century hermetic emblem books that use visual riddles to represent stages of the Magnum Opus.