Iconographic Representations of Mary and the New Adam in the Liber Trinitatis (15th C.)

Abstract

The spread of the use of alchemy among Catholics led to a series of links between Christianity and the Ars Magna, especially that established in the Liber Trinitatis, one of the foremost 15th century texts dealing with alchemy, written between 1410 and 1419 and attributed to a German Franciscan named Ulmanus. This work highlights the relationship between the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ and a magical-religious transformation of matter which, by eliminating impurities, transforms material imperfection into spiritual perfection. Our objective will be to analyze how the important ones stand out in this process also includes notable iconographic representations of Mary, as the raw material from which the quintessence emerges, and Christ, as a mercurial eagle, who is also presented as an alchemical Rebis associated with the hypostatic union of humanity and divinity.