From Science to Magic: Paths and Visions of European Alchemy with Art Researcher María Pandiello, PhD, begins May 11
Four Week Class Taught Online Via Zoom
May 11 - June 1, 2025
1 - 2:30 pm ET (NYC Time)
$125 Paid Patreon Members / $145 General Admission
PLEASE NOTE: All classes will also be recorded and archived for students who cannot make that time
Join art historian María Pandiello, PhD—of the fabulous Visions of Manuscripts instagram—for an image-rich exploration of European alchemy through an investigation of its main actors and historical contexts through a deep dive into its material culture in the form of books and images.
Over the course of five sessions, we will reflect on alchemy's boundaries, epistemological principles, and ornate visions. We will immerse ourselves in the alchemical universe, supported by surviving documents and the visual legacy found in antique manuscripts and printed books. We will trace its literary records to gain insight into its trajectory and transformations in Latin Europe, alongside its Arab and Greco-Latin textual sources. A curated selection of inquisitorial records, correspondence, and personal diaries will enable us to reconstruct some alchemical lives, painting a vivid portrait of these historical figures and exploring their roles in royal courts. We will learn to discriminate between historical actors and their legends, and will examine alchemical manuscripts and printed books with a special focus on alchemical illustrations and the interplay between text and image, observing their transformations and variations over the centuries.
María Pandiello (Donostia, 1981) holds a degree in Romance Philology and a PhD in Art History. Her field of study focuses on manuscripts and printed books from the 15th and 16th centuries. Through them, she examines the circulation of ideological currents and artistic expressions in European courts. She has written on semiotics, the artistic and intellectual exchange facilitated by books and images, the political significance of libraries, the role of women in the medieval political context, and the anthropological perspective of image use.
Images: Illustrations from the alchemical manuscript Clavis Artis attributed to Zoroaster, 17th or 18th century
Four Week Class Taught Online Via Zoom
May 11 - June 1, 2025
1 - 2:30 pm ET (NYC Time)
$125 Paid Patreon Members / $145 General Admission
PLEASE NOTE: All classes will also be recorded and archived for students who cannot make that time
Join art historian María Pandiello, PhD—of the fabulous Visions of Manuscripts instagram—for an image-rich exploration of European alchemy through an investigation of its main actors and historical contexts through a deep dive into its material culture in the form of books and images.
Over the course of five sessions, we will reflect on alchemy's boundaries, epistemological principles, and ornate visions. We will immerse ourselves in the alchemical universe, supported by surviving documents and the visual legacy found in antique manuscripts and printed books. We will trace its literary records to gain insight into its trajectory and transformations in Latin Europe, alongside its Arab and Greco-Latin textual sources. A curated selection of inquisitorial records, correspondence, and personal diaries will enable us to reconstruct some alchemical lives, painting a vivid portrait of these historical figures and exploring their roles in royal courts. We will learn to discriminate between historical actors and their legends, and will examine alchemical manuscripts and printed books with a special focus on alchemical illustrations and the interplay between text and image, observing their transformations and variations over the centuries.
María Pandiello (Donostia, 1981) holds a degree in Romance Philology and a PhD in Art History. Her field of study focuses on manuscripts and printed books from the 15th and 16th centuries. Through them, she examines the circulation of ideological currents and artistic expressions in European courts. She has written on semiotics, the artistic and intellectual exchange facilitated by books and images, the political significance of libraries, the role of women in the medieval political context, and the anthropological perspective of image use.
Images: Illustrations from the alchemical manuscript Clavis Artis attributed to Zoroaster, 17th or 18th century
Four Week Class Taught Online Via Zoom
May 11 - June 1, 2025
1 - 2:30 pm ET (NYC Time)
$125 Paid Patreon Members / $145 General Admission
PLEASE NOTE: All classes will also be recorded and archived for students who cannot make that time
Join art historian María Pandiello, PhD—of the fabulous Visions of Manuscripts instagram—for an image-rich exploration of European alchemy through an investigation of its main actors and historical contexts through a deep dive into its material culture in the form of books and images.
Over the course of five sessions, we will reflect on alchemy's boundaries, epistemological principles, and ornate visions. We will immerse ourselves in the alchemical universe, supported by surviving documents and the visual legacy found in antique manuscripts and printed books. We will trace its literary records to gain insight into its trajectory and transformations in Latin Europe, alongside its Arab and Greco-Latin textual sources. A curated selection of inquisitorial records, correspondence, and personal diaries will enable us to reconstruct some alchemical lives, painting a vivid portrait of these historical figures and exploring their roles in royal courts. We will learn to discriminate between historical actors and their legends, and will examine alchemical manuscripts and printed books with a special focus on alchemical illustrations and the interplay between text and image, observing their transformations and variations over the centuries.
María Pandiello (Donostia, 1981) holds a degree in Romance Philology and a PhD in Art History. Her field of study focuses on manuscripts and printed books from the 15th and 16th centuries. Through them, she examines the circulation of ideological currents and artistic expressions in European courts. She has written on semiotics, the artistic and intellectual exchange facilitated by books and images, the political significance of libraries, the role of women in the medieval political context, and the anthropological perspective of image use.
Images: Illustrations from the alchemical manuscript Clavis Artis attributed to Zoroaster, 17th or 18th century