Basil Valentine contemplates a chemical jar containing homunculi of a man and woman holding hands, and a child emanating from them (alchemical symbol of conception); he is suddenly visited by Sabine Stuart de Chevalier, who reveals that she has the key to his works and crowns him as the king of alchemists. Etching by J. Le Roy, ca. 1781, after Hostoul after Sabine Stuart de Chevalier.

The print is elucidated in an accompanying "Explication". It shows a chemical laboratory in the garden of the Hesperiés, i.e. of the chemical initiates. Beyond is the tree of life with golden apples for those who use it to comfort the unfortunate. These apples are the symbol of the universal medicine or potable gold which cures all maladies and prolongs life

Next to the tree is the philosophical river which waters the garden with health-giving waters. Inside the laboratory is a library of the most precious books of the philosophers. The signs of the seven planets are marked on the spines of the books which deal with astral sciences in relation to alchemy (according to the Explication, but in the engraving the signs of the planets are engraved on the pipes of an organ)

Next to the library, a Benedictine monk (Basil Valentine) is seated on a stool. He is astonished to see a woman who studies the sublime science of alchemy, who arrives unexpectedly and presents him with a golden crown adorned with gems. Although he disclaims the proffered signs of royalty, she insists, and presses him to accept also a sceptre and diadem, in order that he may appear in the world as he really is. She reveals through these actions that she has entered into the metamorphoses and emblems under which he has been hidden for so long; the key which she carries denotes this achievement of hers. Another Benedictine monk holding a handkerchief mourns the loss of of a monk (i.e. Basil Valentine) who, by his piety and knowledge, was an adornment to the Benedictine order

A maze represents the difficulties presented by the operations of chemistry and the Great Work, and the difficulties involved in withdrawing from them when not motivated by good principles. The mountains and the bird flying over the tree have meanings that are explained in volume II of the work by Sabine Stuart de Chevalier

Next to Basil Valentine is a furnace, on which is placed a chemical vase containing two human figures with a third figure above. This was the operation that the philosopher was marvelling at when he was surprised by the appearance of the lady. Her arrival convinced him that she had obtained by study the true key of the sanctuary of philosophy. She told him that the precious vase, in the state in which she saw it, represented the solution of the work that he was carrying out. She explains that the figures in the vase represent the union of the slave (the red man) with his aromatic sister (the white woman) who by their union dissolve themselves and perfect themselves into one body. The three flowers that emerge from the vase are black, white and red: these are the perfect colours from which the other colours are derived. The conjunction of the two bodies is necessary for the conclusion of the alchemist's work. The philopher's stone is brought into their heart by the wind: wind is air, air is life, and life is the soul, meaning the oil and water of the philosophers

1781

1 print : etching ; platemark 15.2 x 10.9 cm

Sabine Stuart de Chevalier inv. Hostoul del. Ja. Le Roy sculp.

The draughtsman designated as "Hostoul" has not been identified

Wellcome Collection 37282i

Exhibited in "AI: More than Human" at Barbican Centre, London, 16 May - 26 August 2019 and Forum Groningen, The Netherlands, 6 December 2019 - 16 August 2020