Dante Alighieri Alchymicus AmorisAuthor(s): C. S. GutkindReviewed work(s):Source: Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, Vol. 3, No. 1/2 (Oct., 1939 - Jan.,1940), pp. 153-155Published by: The Warburg InstituteStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/750203 .Accessed: 22/04/2012 05:28

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MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 153

literary records of shipment of numbers of bamboo staffsl one would be led to believe that such staffs were produced in large orders, and that there existed a type of staff used as an attribute of the pilgrim when visiting Rome. It leads us to wonder if many more quite like the two in Rome cannot be found, and invites the surmise that possibly a confraternity from Vicenza2 ap- peared in Rome bearing specially prepared staffs during the Anno Santo of 1650, of a design similar to that in the Museo Sacro of the Vatican.

PAUL A. UNDERWOOD

1 Poussin, writing to Cassiano del Pozzo on 22 May, 1642 (Archives de l'artfranfais, nouvelle p'riode, vol. 5, ed. of Poussin's correspondence, p. 154), says that he is sending a case of paintings to Rome from Paris and that in the same case Gabriel Naud6, the biblio- grapher, is sending certe canne d'indie to Cardinal Antonio Barberini. This reference I owe to the kindness of Mr. Mayor of the Metropolitan Museum, New York.

" Cf. above p. 149-

DANTE ALIGHIERI ALCHYMICUS AMORIS

In i627 a thin octavo volume was printed in Frankfurt " Impensis Lucae Jennisii "

entitled "HORTULUS HERMETICUS. Flosculis Philosophorum cupro incisis conformatus, et brevissimis versiculis explicatus, quo Chy- miatria studiosi pro Philoteca uti, fessique Laboratoriorum ministri recreari possint. Auctore M. Daniele Stolcio de Stolzenberg Bohemo, Med. Cand. Poeta, Lau: Cor."

As it is obvious from this, the author, Magister Daniel Stolcius, came from Stol- zenberg in Bohemia, and was a "medecine candidatus" and a Poet Laureate; and, as he mentions in his preface, he visited Oxford in 1623. But nothing more is now known of him.3

Beginning with two distichs, addressed to the reader,4 the book consists of 16o double

distichs on alchemists. With the exception, oddly enough, of Paracelsus, they cover all the wellknown alchemists real and imaginary, including Plato, Aristotle, and even Thomas Aquinas (as "Italus Chymicus"). Each of the distichs is illustrated by a medallion on the page facing. The medallions, which are circular and all of the same size, are printed in pairs, have their respective alchemists' names beneath them, and are each inscribed with a legend within a circular surround; these legends also appear below the me- dallions.

One of the chief points of interest about this book is that Dante appears in it, in an unusual role, as an alchemist.

Distich No. 31 refers to him

DANTES PHILOSOPHUS Solvite in humorem bene Corpora nostra parata,

Imbibite atque illo germina Spirituum. Sic Juvenis blandae jungetur amore puellae,

Illorum incendet dum modo pectus Amor.

The accompanying medallion is coupled with that for the distich on Galen, and that for a definite reason.

In the centre of the Dante medallion (P1. 31h) is a fountain in the form of a pillar, standing upon a pedestal and sur- mounted by a round stone; two spouts pour into the chests of a man and a woman who stand facing each other on the left and the right respectively. They are dressed in early I7th century costume, and their right hands are clasped. The man raises his left hand above his head, and holds in it a burning heart, while the woman, who wears a crown, also has a burning heart in her left hand; but she appears to be pointing downwards with it. The medallion is surrounded by the inscription "Praeparate corpora, et solvite ea, ex eaqv (i.e. water), Spiritus imbibite ablutos," which is clearly an abbreviation (with the insertion of "ablutos") of the distich on Dante; and below are the words "DANTIUS PHILOSO-

phus."5 The Galen medallion has a similar

fountain, surmounted by a round stone, in the centre; but the two spouts now pour down into a circular basin where there are three infants. Here, again, a man and a woman stand on each side, though they have changed positions and would now appear to be a king and a queen. The legend around

Another book by Stolcius, Viridirium chymicumfiguris cupro incisis adornatum Francofurti Sumptibus Lucae Jen- nisi (sic) 1624, contains a number of distichs on alchemistic metals, minerals, etc., and astronomical and meteorological phenomena. In the preface the names of the engravers Michael Meier and Joh. Daniel Mylius are given; but they now appear to be untraceable. The Hortulus is mentioned in J6cher's Allgem. Gelehrten Lexicon as being very rare.

4 Ad Lectorem Philochymiatrum. Ut releves animum proles Vulcania fessum,

Hortulus ecce tibi noster apertus erit, Invenies in eo flores fontemque perennem,

Quod juvet hinc oculis nare vel ore bibes. 5 The term "philosophus" here covers alchemists in

so far as they were genuine and not fraudulent.

154 MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

runs "Corpora praeparate, purgate, solvite, coagulate, et proijcite super corpus." This in turn refers to the distich on Galen, which reads as follows :

Corpora purgando reparate et solvite, tandem Cogite, tumque super corpora projicite.

Illinc Conjugibus surgent nova gaudia mille Dum cernent Thalami pignora grata sui.

These two distichs and their medallions differ completely from all the rest. While the remaining 158 treat of alchemistic recipes for the transformation of minerals and metals etc, these two alone deal with love and marriage, and the similarity of the motives in the medallions echoes the con- nection between them.

The fountain in the two medallions can be identified as the "Alembicus," the famous alchemistic instrument (or stove) for pro- ducing the Quinta Essentia or the Elixir of Life, of which the author thinks both Dante and Galen knew the secret.

How did it occur to Stolcius to include Dante among the alchemists as the possessor of a love-potion? He is the only poet men- tioned in the I6o distichs, although he is described as "philosophus." It is true that Stolcius wrote the distichs for amusement and recreation; but they are definitely serious in tone and are concerned with alchemists real or otherwise, and their appropriate theories.

There was a tradition that Dante was an alchemist and magician; and it is not impossible that Stolcius knew it. The protocols of the Cagnolati trial, which was held by the Papal Tribunal at Avignon in 1320,1 show that even in his own lifetime Dante was believed to possess necromantic and alchemistic powers, which, for instance, enabled him to kill an enemy in effigie and to bring messages from the dead.2 It is difficult to fix the origin of this belief. It may have arisen from the overwhelming impression made at the time by the journey through Hell and Purgatory in the Divina Commedia.3 It may also have been suggested by the sympathetic treatment of sooth-sayers in Inf. XX, which, despite the condemnation

of fraudulent alchemists in Inf. XXIX,4 even led his commentators, Jacopo della Lana and Benvenuto da Imola,5 to conclude that Dante had in fact practised necromancy and alchemy. There is, further, in a late 14th century Ms. a "motivum vel sonetum Dantis Philosophi et Poetae florentini," which gives in mystical terms a recipe for the philosopher's stone.6 Then, after a lapse of two hundred years, Dante's name again appears in connection with alchemy; Gio- vanni Battista Nazzari in the I572 edition of his Della Tramutatione Metallica lists him (p. 138) among famous alchemists as Dantes Philosophus with no other designation.' And so far as I know, this is the full extent of the legend of Dante as an alchemist.

While Stolcius may have had information, which has since disappeared, it is not unlikely that he knew Nazzari's book. He may also have been acquainted with the life of Dante

1 Printed in Historisches Jahrbuch, XVIII. 2 Cf. Boccaccio's delightful anecdote of the women

in Verona, and A. Pucci's Centiloquio, VV. 220-2 : "Che la gente grossa Si crede cercasse veramente Li sopradetti luoghi in carne e in ossa."

3 These two parts of the Divina Commedia were known in 1320. Cf. V. Rossi, Dante nel Trecento, I921.

* This Canto is not to be regarded as a complete condemnation of alchemy as a science, but rather as an exposure of it when used as an art of deception for lucrative purposes. This difference was already felt in the I3th century (cf. Thomas Acquinas De Meteoro- logibus, Arnaldo de Villanova, Pietro Bono, etc.).

5 Commenti di Jacopo della Lana, Bologna 1866, Vol. I, p. 338.

8 The Ms. is in the Faculty of Medicine at Mont- pellier; the sonnet was first printed in Revue des Langues Romanes, Vol. IV (188o), p. 76, under Dante's name. It was known to Crescimbeni with a slight variant from another source, who attributes it to a Franciscan Friar, Elia (cf. F. Novati, Attraverso il Medio Evo, Bari 1905, p. 6o). For linguistic reasons it seems to date from the second half of the 14th century. As it closely resembles Stols' distichs, especially at the beginning, it is worth quoting here; the text is that given by Della Giovanna in his article " Dante Mago " in the Rivista d'Italia, II, 1898 :

Solvete i corpi in acqua a tutto dicho Voi che volete fare o Sole o Luna; Delle du' acque poi pigliate l'una, Qual pifi vi piace, e fate quel ch'io dicho.

Datela a bere a quel vostro inimico Senza darli a mangiar cosa neuna. Morto il vederete coverto a bruna Dentro dal corpo del Leone antico.

Poi gli farete la sua sepultura Per intervallo si che si disfaccia La polpe, l'ossa et ogni sua giunctura.

Poy facto questo, facte che si faccia Dell'acqua terra che sia netta e pura.

La petra harete, anchor che altro vi piaccia. Della terra acqua, dell'acqua terra fare, Cosi la petra si vuol multiplicare.

I7 t is worth mentioning that in the first 1564 edition of his book Nazzari did not include Dante among his philosophers and alchemists. He only appears in the 1572 and I599 editions together with Homer and Maccheronean Merlin Cocai who are also omitted in the 1564 edition. No other poets are mentioned. The early edition, which is much shorter, bears the title II Metamorfisi metallico et humano, Brescia.

THE PORTRAIT OF ISABELLA OF CASTILLE ON COINS

he appearance of Isabella of Castille has been made familiar to posterity

by a number of portraits.2 In this respect she may be compared with personalities of the Italian Renaissance although the setting of her portraits generally remains mediaeval. Particularly striking is the one of Isabella on coins in the form of a bust confronted with that of her husband, Ferdinand of Aragon (P1. 3Ib). The style of these coins is late Gothic whereas the type represented is very rare in mediaeval tradition.3 Late antiquity had known this type which is for instance found in Rome for the Emperor Nero and his mother Agrippina, and for Septimius Severus and Julia Domna (P1. 3Ie, f). But the more usual type of representation was the bust of the man almost covering that of the woman. It was

2 A. Ballesteros, Historia de Espania, 1922, III, con- tains many of these portraits. See also A. Wittlin, Isabella, 1936, frontispiece.

I wish to express my thanks to the staff of the Department of Coins and Medals in the British Museum for their assistance in my studies. ' The coins of Emperor Frederick I and Beatrix and the coins introduced by Pope Eugenius IV showing Peter and Paul represent this type.

4 G. Hill, A Corpus of Italian Medals, 1930, pl. 28, no. 141. This type did not achieve popularity on Italian coins, but is frequent in medals. '

Cf. the famous picture in the Prado Museum in Madrid showing Ferdinand and Isabella kneeling, before the Virgin Mary. ' R. B. Merriman, The Rise of the Spanish Empire, 1918, II, p. 83. Cf. p. 81 f. ' This is even true of Moghul India; although her portrait was avoided, the name of the Empress Nur Jahan appeared on her coins, since she was the actual ruler. In modern times the Empress Maria Theresa of Austria and Queen Victoria of England, to give only two examples, being rulers in their own right,

typical for the Ptolemies (P1. 3 Id), and has become the common form in modern times.

The Renaissance in Italy brought new life to the antique type. The earliest example of the confronted busts may be found in a medal which is supposed to represent Ugo and Parisina d'Este4 (P1. 3Ig). But the coins of Isabella show a different artistic conception. Their style, as stated above, is late-Gothic, and the treatment of the faces is naturalistic and similar to the representations in Spanish paintings.5 It is therefore un- likely that these coins were executed under Italian influence. A political rather than an aesthetic consideration seems to have determined their form. Isabella, anxious not to lose any of her political liberties and rights through her marriage to Ferdinand, stipulated in the confirmation of her marriage treaty of 1469 her independence as a queen, and among other points she especially stated that the portraits of the king and queen should appear on coins so that equal prominence was given to both.6 Such coins were executed from 1497 onwards, symbolising the motto : Tanto monta, monta tanto, Isabel como Fernando.

Isabella's daughter, Joan the Insane, used the same type of coins in Aragon for portraits showing her with her son Charles V, and it is also found with Queen Mary and her husband, Philip II, in England (P1. 3Ic), but even so this type remained rare, and did not replace the more usual one of the two heads in profile. It was the direct outcome of the joint rule of the queen and king in perfect equality. This historical phenomenon is uncommon, and so is its correlated appearance in the history of art. The portraits of women on coins are an index to their social position and aspirations,' and should, therefore, not be neglected in a study of the social position of women, and the sociological aspects of art.

HELEN ROSENAU

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 155 and his love for Beatrice; and it is possible that he may himself have based the idea that Dante possessed a recipe for a love potion on a vague, but more or less direct, know- ledge of Dante's works.1

C. S. GUTKIND

x Two entries which are worth noting from Piere Borel's alphabetical Bibliotheca Chimica, Paris 1654, p. 72, are :

Dantius, Chimicus est, ex Stolcio (sic) Danthes (sic) Philosophus Chimicus, ex Nasari

Borel was probably unaware that they both referred to Dante Alighieri.

Stolcius' Hortulus Hermeticus was reprinted in full at the end of Volume II of Jean Jacques Manget's Biblioteca Chemica Curiosa seu rerum ad Alchemiam perti- nentium Thesaurus (Geneva, i702) as Liber III, Sect. III, Subsect. X, p. 895 if. But the medallions are dis- connected from the distichs and are printed together in plates at the end of the work; and above each distich is a reference for finding the appropriate medallion (e.g., in Dante's case :--Vide Tab IX, fig. 7). Also the plates of medallions bear the name of the German engraver, Joh. Stridbeck (1665-1714; cf. Thieme- Becker, Kiinstler-Lexikon, XXXII, p. 185). Since these medallions are identical with those of the 1627 edition of Stolcius' work, where no engraver's name is given, it is obvious that Stridbeck only produced the reprints.

31

]P~Ld~~h1 14 !i ~ ii~iii~iiiiiii................ ........ D)ANTIVS N IVA I ENVS

h- Dante and Galen Medallions, from D. Stolcius, Hortulus Hermeticus, 1627 (p. 153)

a--R. G. Dardel, Symbolic Portrait of Descartes. Lon- don, Wallace Coll. (p. 156)

b-Ferdinand of Aragon c-Philip II and Queen and Isabella of Castille Mary

d- Ptolemaic Coin e-Nero and f-Septimius Severus g-Ugo and Parisina d'Este Agrippina and Julia Domna

Coins. British Museum (p. 155)

i-The Monarch's Crown. From Saavedra Fajardo, Symbola Christiano - Politica, 1659 (p. 158)