The Sun over the City
attributed to Salomon Trismosin, c. 1582
$90
Print check at 8 x 12 in: 204 dpi, excellent. Trimmed 5.7% to the shape of the print.
Shipping to a US address: $24.80 for this piece, from the print room in Charlotte, North Carolina.
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A vast golden sun-face rises over a distant city, filling the sky with light — the plate that gives the whole manuscript its name, Splendor Solis, the 'splendour of the sun.' It is the closing image, the work's end shown as sunrise over a sleeping town, the red disc humanised into a broad radiant face. Painted about 1582 within a gilded border, it turns the abstract goal of alchemy into something a child could read: after the drowning and the darkening and the peacock's colours, day. Of all the manuscript's marvels this is the one people remember — the sun as the reward at the end of the work.
- 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-00454
| Picture | 8 x 12 in |
|---|---|
| Outside size | 9.6 x 13.6 in |
| Depth | 0.9 in (22 mm) |
| Weight | [[REAL PROOF NEEDED: shipped weight per size and frame]] |
| Hanging | [[REAL PROOF NEEDED: hanging hardware Prodigi fits to this frame]] |
| Material | Enhanced matte art paper, 200 gsm; acrylic glazing |
| Made in | Charlotte, North Carolina, by Prodigi |
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 | dpi | Grade | How it fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 x 12 in | 204 | Excellent | Trimmed 5.7% |
| Size | Why |
|---|---|
| 8 x 10 in | Wrong shape: a 21% crop |
| 11 x 14 in | Wrong shape: a 20% crop |
| 12 x 16 in | Wrong shape: a 16% crop |
| 12 x 18 in | 136 dpi; a historical scan is never enlarged |
| 16 x 20 in | Wrong shape: a 21% crop |
| 16 x 24 in | 102 dpi; a historical scan is never enlarged |
| 18 x 24 in | Wrong shape: a 16% crop |
| 20 x 30 in | 81 dpi; a historical scan is never enlarged |
| 24 x 30 in | Wrong shape: a 21% crop |
| 24 x 36 in | 68 dpi; a historical scan is never enlarged |
| 30 x 40 in | Wrong shape: a 16% crop |
| 36 x 48 in | Wrong shape: a 16% crop |
| 40 x 60 in | 40 dpi; a historical scan is never enlarged |
- Scanned
- 2026-10-07
- Master file
- 1,635 x 2,600 px, srgb
- Tone
- Darks 39, lights 217 of 255; 0% clipped light, 0% clipped dark
- Colour
- 0% vivid
- Sharpness
- 13.98
Shipping for this piece to a US address is $24.80, the print room’s own rate, charged per piece. Checkout shows the total before you pay.
Every piece is printed after you order it, in Charlotte, North Carolina, and ships from there. For now we ship to US addresses only.
A piece that arrives damaged, misprinted or in the wrong size is replaced at our cost. The details: shipping and returns and replacements.
The Hermetica
The esoteric tradition’s emblems, astrological figures and the old charts of palmistry and phrenology.
All 58 pieces from The Hermetica
