Oratory ceiling, Hotel Lallemant, Bourges, France

Winged cherub praying with his prayer beads, representing pilgrimage to Jerusalem and the link between the Church and esotericism, or between the holy trinity and metals (gold is God, money is the Virgin and mercury is Jesus), 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

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1495-1518 Alchemical Alchemist Alchemy Alchimie Beads Bourges Centre-val Cher Cherub Coffered Decoratifs Esotericism Fulcanelli Interpretation Lallemand Lallemant Mercury Oratory Paternoster Pilgrim Pilgrimage Putto Rosary Symbolism Trinity

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