Oratory ceiling, Hotel Lallemant, Bourges, France

Winged cherub sitting on a giant shell and sowing 7 shells from a basket (7 is a symbolic number in alchemy), with the basket and the shell representing the philosophical mercury and the appearance of sulphur, from the coffered ceiling of the Oratory, carved in stone with 30 sections, each relating to a process in alchemy, in the Hotel Lallemant, a mansion built 1495-1518 in French Renaissance style by the Lallemant merchant family, in Bourges, Centre Val de Loire, France. The sculptural decoration on the building, made by both French and Italian sculptors, has been interpreted by Fulcanelli and others as having an alchemical symbolism. Since 1951 the building has housed the Musee des Arts Decoratifs and it was listed as a historic monument in 1840. Picture by Manuel Cohen

Picture No

13437280

Media ID

45125765

Size

4372px x 4724px (7.2MB)

Credit

Manuel Cohen / Mary Evans

Source

Photograph by Manuel Cohen