The Peacock's Tail

Within a tall glass flask, a peacock spreads its tail in a spray of colour — the cauda pavonis, the 'peacock's tail,' one of alchemy's most beloved signs. It named the moment when the matter in the vessel was said to flush through a whole spectrum of colours, a shimmering stage on the way to the work's end. Splendor Solis gives it a full page around 1582, the flask standing on a decorated ground within a gilded border. Few images capture the sheer wonder alchemists took in colour so well: the flask as a little theatre, and the peacock as the play.

Maker

attributed to Salomon Trismosin

Date

c. 1582

Medium of the original

Plate

Original held by

British Library, Harley MS 3469 · scan: Wikimedia Commons

Credit

British Library, Harley MS 3469 · scan: Wikimedia Commons

Rights

Public domain, verified

Catalogue number

PA-00451