The Wolf Devours the King
Michael Maier (author); engraved by Matthäus Merian the Elder
No print size passed the check for this piece: at 10 x 8 in, 61 dpi; a historical scan is never enlarged. We would rather show it than sell a soft print.
See pieces like it you can buyThe scene depicts a wolf tearing into the body of a fallen, crowned king; the accompanying discourse has the wolf then thrown onto a fire, its burning somehow returning the king to life "with enhanced vigor." The motto states the sequence flatly: "Regem lupus voravit & vitae crematus reddidit" — the wolf devoured the king, and being burned, restored him to life. Alchemists read this violent cycle as a picture of purification by antimony, traditionally figured as a wolf for its capacity to "devour" impurities out of gold in the crucible, after which the wolf-antimony was itself burned away, leaving the purified metal behind. It is among the more visceral images in the book, and a clear example of how Maier’s emblems used death and resurrection as working vocabulary for what was, mechanically, a metallurgical refining step.
- Maker
- Michael Maier (author); engraved by Matthäus Merian the Elder
- Medium of the original
- Engraving
- Original held by
- Wikimedia Commons
- Credit
- Wikimedia Commons · via Wikimedia Commons
- Rights
- Public domain, verified
- Catalogue number
- PA-00513
Before a size goes on sale, the file is measured against it: pixels per inch at that size, how much of the picture a crop would lose, tone and sharpness. A size that fails is not offered, so there is nothing to choose wrong.
| Size | Why |
|---|---|
| 10 x 8 in | 61 dpi; a historical scan is never enlarged |
| 12 x 8 in | Wrong shape: a 24% crop |
| 14 x 11 in | Wrong shape: a 11% crop |
| 16 x 12 in | Wrong shape: a 15% crop |
| 18 x 12 in | Wrong shape: a 24% crop |
| 20 x 16 in | 30 dpi; a historical scan is never enlarged |
| 24 x 16 in | Wrong shape: a 24% crop |
| 24 x 18 in | Wrong shape: a 15% crop |
| 30 x 20 in | Wrong shape: a 24% crop |
| 30 x 24 in | 20 dpi; a historical scan is never enlarged |
| 36 x 24 in | Wrong shape: a 24% crop |
| 40 x 30 in | Wrong shape: a 15% crop |
| 48 x 36 in | Wrong shape: a 15% crop |
| 60 x 40 in | Wrong shape: a 24% crop |
- Scanned
- 2026-10-07
- Master file
- 612 x 538 px, b-w
- Tone
- Darks 5, lights 236 of 255; 1.5% clipped light, 3.5% clipped dark
- Colour
- 0% vivid
- Sharpness
- 932.82
- Notes
- Shadows clip on 4% of the image: the darkest areas print as solid black
The Alembic
Gold, the sun and the alchemist’s Great Work in eight surviving miniatures.
All 29 pieces from The Alembic
