<i>Chymie</i>
date: label: date made
content: 1763
notes: label: Description
content: This engraving is from the “Chimie” section of vol. 3 of the <i>Recueil de Planches, sur les sciences, les arts libéraux, et les arts méchaniques</i> (Paris, 1763), of the <i>Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire Raisonné des Sciences, des Arts et des Métiers</i> organized by Denis Diderot and other philosophes.
label: Description
content: The eighteenth plate representing chemistry, it depicts a complex and obviously allegorical image of the earth supported by two strong men and a four-headed dragon. Above the earth, another man holds the sun while a woman holds the moon. At the top are philosophers and a phoenix. The plinth at bottom carries the text “PARADIGMA OPERIS PHILOSOPHICI. Libavio.”
label: Description
content: This image is derived from that in the <i>Praxis Alchemiae</i> (1606) written by Andreas Libavius (1555-1616), an important German physician and chemist.
label: Description
content: Alchemy by the 18th century, and in the <i>Encyclopédie</i>, meant the transmutation of metals, while chemistry meant separation and unification of various substances. The words chemistry and alchemy are old, and their meanings varied over time. Libavius thought the two were synonymous.
label: Description
content: “Pl. XVII” appears at the upper right of this image. The “Goussier del.” signature at the bottom left refers to Jacques-Louis Goussier, the artist who drew more than 900 plates for the <i>Encyclopédie</i>. The “Desehrt fecit” signature at lower right refers to a French engraver of the period.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: France: Île-de-France, Paris
topic: label: Subject
content: Chemistry
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Physical Sciences
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content: Science & Mathematics
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content: Prints from the Physical Sciences Collection
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: PH.319743.20
label: catalog number
content: 319743.20
label: accession number
content: 239020
objectType: label: Object Name
content: print
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: paper (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 15 3/4 in x 9 1/4 in; 40.005 cm x 23.495 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall: 14 5/16 in x 9 1/4 in; 36.35375 cm x 23.495 cm