An alchemist hunched over his crucible

Active selection in cart:
An alchemist hunched over his crucible; an assistant reads him a recipe, watched by an onlooker; the alchemist's wife weeps in the dim background, a baby clasped to her breast. Coloured lithograph by Bouvier, 1830, after J Steen. After a painting by Steen known as 'The village alchemist', but with the removal of the weeping wife in the background. Above are suspended herbs, a cucurbite and drying laundry. The alchemist has typical 'bleary eyes' from long sustained efforts of watching his experiment, as described by Thomas Norton in his 'Ordinall of alchemy', 1477. Created January 1830. Alchemists. Alchemy. Chemical apparatus. Work. Science – Experiments. Work and family. Infants. Crying. Wives. Breastfeeding. Contributors: Jan Steen (1626–1679); Bouvier. Work ID: fkft9zdm.

Free public domain image

To download this free image, please register (this takes just 30 seconds) or log in.

This is one of 1,687,036 free hi-res public domain images, selected from major public collections to complement the Look and Learn archive, and to save you time and money. Typically, it may be used for any purpose, but users should check the precise terms and satisfy themselves that the intended use will not infringe the rights of any third party.

Can we help?

Look and Learn is one of the world’s leading sources of historical and cultural images for personal and commercial use. Feel free to contact us with any questions or requests.

Links