Oratory ceiling, Hotel Lallemant, Bourges, France

The pilgrim praying, a crowned cherub with no wings reads from a book searching for enlightenment, while a snake eats his own tail, killing himself with his own venom, while making the sign of infinity with his curled tail, 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 Bourges Centre-val Cher Cherub Coffered Decoratifs Enlightenment Fulcanelli Infinity Interpretation Lallemand Lallemant Oratory Phylactery Pilgrim Poison Scroll Serpent Symbolism Venom

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