Allegorical Gallery

Alchemical tree, Philosophia reformata

The Alchemical Tree. Engraving depicting a tree surrounded by figures used in allegory by alchemists. The tree itself carries symbols representing the Moon, Sun and five planets. Around it are discs carrying symbols such as various birds, a unicorn and a body rising from a grave, showing the stages of life. This engraving comes from Philosophia reformata by Johann Daniel Mylius, printed at Frankfurt in 1622, but is a reworking of emblems created by Valentine for his series called Azoth

© Todd-White Art Photography

Music sheet cover for Queen of the May Quadrille

Music sheet cover for the Queen of the May Quadrille, composed by the French conductor Louis Antoine Jullien (1812-1860), and dedicated to Mrs Robert Arkwright (the actress Frances Crawford Kemble). An allegorical female figure is depicted to represent the month of May, wearing a pink chiffon dress and with bare feet. She is wearing pink roses in her hair, and holds up a garland of roses with which to crown the lucky girl chosen to be Queen of the May

© Mary Evans Picture Library 2015 - https://copyrighthub.org/s0/hub1/creation/maryevans/MaryEvansPictureID/10412851

View of Venice, 1500 (woodcut)

3557439 View of Venice, 1500 (woodcut) by Barbari, Jacopo de (1440/50-a.1515); 132.72x277.5 cm; Minneapolis Institute of Arts, MN, USA; (add.info.: Published by Anton Kolb
Woodcut from six blocks on six sheets of paper
Long before the advent of balloons and other aircraft, Jacopo de Barbari created a bird's-eye view of Venice through the power of his intellect and imagination. The mural-size print was unprecedented in scale when it was published in the year 1500. Every building, canal, and open square is documented here. One imagines Barbari and his assistants climbing up the city's 103 bell towers in order to survey the dense urban landscape. The View of Venice also features the maritime activities that made the city an international center of trade. Mercury, the god of commerce, presides over the city, while watchful Neptune, god of the seas, rides his dolphin through the harbor.
The incredible advance in the presentation and dissemination of information makes this the Google Earth of its day. The View is a landmark in the history of printmaking. It was printed in sections from six carved wooden blocks. Each part is so big that the individual sheets of paper were the largest ever produced in Europe at that time. When published, the View was very expensive, and most examples were probably displayed on walls. The result is that only a dozen of the original edition are known to survive. Mia's example, acquired in 2010, was the first to change hands in 55 years; it is one of just three in America and is in unusually good condition.); A© Minneapolis Institute of Art; The John R. Van Derlip Fund; Italian, out of copyright

© © Minneapolis Institute of Art The John R. Van Derlip Fund / Bridgeman Images