The Alchemist and the Ouroboros in the Vessel

On the left, a figure with curly reddish-blonde hair, wearing a pink tunic and green hose, leans over a wooden trough filled with a white substance. To the right, a large, translucent, bell-shaped glass vessel sits upon a bed of vibrant, stylized red flames. Inside the vessel, a blue, reptilian dragon with wings and small dorsal spines bites its own tail, forming a circular shape; a small black bird perches upon the dragon's back. The background is a flat, solid green, and the entire scene is framed by a simple red border.

This illumination is from the 'Aurora Consurgens', an alchemical treatise often attributed to Pseudo-Aquinas, illustrating the chemical 'Great Work' through cryptic, symbolic imagery. The dragon consuming its tail represents the cyclical nature of the materia prima and the processes of putrefaction and regeneration required for transmutation.