THE ROYAL ART
During the 16th century Francesco Medici built a private room called The Studiolo. Historic references tend to point to Francesco's character as introverted, private and quiet. We must note that it was time of secrecy concerning many topics, a time when research, experiments and quest for certain knowledge was discouraged. The Medici offspring were being privately tutored by many advanced thinkers, such as the young Galileo, whos scientific studies of astronomy and the invention of the telescope challenged Catholic doctrine. A generation prior witnessesed the “Bonfires of the Vanities,” (1497); the massive burning of "evil" objects, such as mirrors, jewelry, fine clothing, cosmetics, secular books and poetry, cards, and remarkable Renaissance artwork that included paintings by Botticelli.
The Renaissance period spawned great fascination for the European “Royal Art” of alchemy, experiments that used temperature change and chemical interaction to manipulate the subtle laws that govern the physical laws of nature. The lessons learned, from turning gross matter (solid) to the ethereal (liquid and gas) and back again, opened new doors for scientific fields while embracing the archetypes and metaphors found in world myths that describe human nature and potential.
The literal definition of the “Philosophers Stone” stems from experiments with molten metal in laboratories where a lump of antimony, know as “infant gold,” is produced. The physical description of alchemy (from a seed, a bloom and tree) in the laboratory can easily parallel the metaphorical transformation generated by the steps to awakening (attaining knowledge) and stimulating the creative imagination. Ancient teachings mention the internal path of freedom by continuously describing the same goal and process of Hindu “enlightenment”, The Buddhist “Nirvana” and “The Kingdom of God” introduced by Jesus.
It is of interest to me to ponder when in history the quest for understanding the “metaphor” became the desire for the “literal,” when the “Idea” became the "material." The time when the beauty of gold was replaced by the value of gold; when the gold's link to the heavens was replaced by greed.