The Alchemist in Search of the Philosopher's Stone by Joseph Wright of Derby

The Alchemist in Search of the Philosopher's Stone by Joseph Wright of Derby.

The picture shows the alchemist trying to produce the elusive Philosopher's stone, which could turn ordinary metal into gold, but instead, to his amazement, he discovers phosphorus. However, Wright does not picture the alchemist in a 17th-century background but he romanticizes the room by imagining medieval gothic arches and high, pointed windows as if he is in a church. He also gave a very favorable impression of the actual process which involves the reduction by boiling of urine. A 1730 description of the manufacture of phosphorus described the need for 50 or 60 pails of urine that was both putrid and "bred worms".

The German alchemist Hennig Brandt, in search of the Philosopher's Stone, discovered phosphorus during an experiment with fermented urine in 1669.  This period, 1650-1750 was at that transition from a world of uncertain knowledge structured through religious beliefs to the Age of Enlightenment, the age when thinkers adopted the determination that the world is knowable by man and can be discovered through the scientific method, evidence, reason and logic.  

The painting is probably based on a description of the process for making phosphorus in a book about chemistry by Pierre-Joseph Macquer, which was shared with Joseph Wright by the Liverpool chemist, Matthew Turner.   The small jet of blue light from a hole in the flask is the first visible sign of phosphorous.  

I like this painting for two reasons.  The first is that it pays tribute to the Age of Reason (discovery of phosphorous) but also acknowledges through its imagery a more ancient religious sentiment.  The kneeling figure of Brandt, his acolytes of knowledge in the background, the lighting of revelation.  

And that is the second attraction.  Tenebrism is a term derived from Italian, 'tenebroso', which means darkened and obscuring.  Tenebrism describes paintings in which significant details such as faces and hands are illuminated and highlighted while contrasting with a predominantly dark setting.  It is a striking technique and I have always been attracted to paintings in such a style.  

Click to enlarge.