The image from the cover of the book Rosarium philosophorum (Rosary of the Philosophers, 1550) was originally printed in black and white and colored in a later edition. The term rosary refers to a rose garden, metaphoric of an anthology or collection of wise sayings by alchemists and other philosophers. The king dressed in purple seems to enjoy much popularity, posturing excess of self-confidence while surrounded by five people who seem to agree with his Latin statement “Soluite corpa in aquas” which may translate to “dissolve bodies in water". The person to his right seems to agree, bringing up another phenomenon: “Solue coagula”, i.e. coagulation of solutes, which appropriately describes the process of crystallization. However, the other king, dressed in pink, offensively challenges the king in purple, stepping on his statement and asking in ancient German: “Who can see such a stupid thing in reality?” This discourse appears to be therefore focused on structural chemistry, the subject of the present Rosarium.
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