The Alchemist

• 17th century
• Mattheus van Helmont, Flemish
• 22 1/2 in. W x 16 1/2 in. H
  Oil on canvas
• On display in Transmutations
• Gift of Roy Eddleman
• Eddleman Collection
• FA 2000.003.002
• No known copyright restrictions

Description

A bearded, seated man facing three-quarters left, with glasses and bright red shirt, bends over an open book on a desk stacked high with a mess of books, papers, and glassware. The trail of books continues to the ground with broken and unbroken crockery, a large copper pan, and strands of straw. At the left middle ground two men work at a table; behind them a man stands by a large furnace and pours the contents from one vessel into another. In the right background are three men stand around a free-standing small furnace, heating a pot.