Aurora consurgens (Book) AKA Rising dawn
Aurora consurgens
1420 AD
AKA Rising dawn
An alchemical treatise of the 15th century famous for the rich illuminations that accompany it in some manuscripts. The oldest and most spectacular copy of this document dates from the 1420s (Zürich, Zentralbibliothek, ms. Rh. 172) - see Aurora consurgens
Aurora consurgens is a commentary on the Latin translation of Silvery Waters by Senior Zadith (Ibn Umayl). It also refers to the Song of Songs, especially in its last (7th) parable (de confabulatione dilecti cum dilecta), which draws closely on it, in main parts paraphrasing it.
Unusual for a work of this type, the text is accompanied by about thirty-seven fine miniatures in watercolor. The illustrations are representations of alchemical symbols depicted in human or animal form.
For example, mercury is depicted as a serpent, gold as the sun and silver as the moon.
These illustrations incorporate some of the earliest Greek alchemical symbols known, found in the Authentic Memoirs of Zosimos of Panopolis.
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