Alchemic miscellany

Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Ashburnham 1166
second half of the 15th century (1460–75)

Written in a late Italian Gothic script, the codex is illustrated with images of excellent workmanship but uncertain origin—they have been variously attributed to the circle of Pisanello in northern Italy, to Florentine artists influenced by the work of Botticelli, to the school of Squarcione and Mantegna in Padua and to the workshop of Iacopo Bellini. The folio on display (18r) features “Pan silvanus”, crowned by a sickle moon and playing pipes.