The College of Physicians of Philadelphia Digital Library

The serpent and the millstones

About This Item

Title

The serpent and the millstones

Subject

Snakes
Weapons
Occultism
Symbolism

Description

Artist unknown.
Paracelsus' 1st prophecy. A serpent is coiled around a sword and two millstones. The sword is held up by a hand. The serpent has a bundle of birch rods between its teeth.
Title taken from English translation: Prophecies of Paracelsus (London : William Rider & Son, 1915).

Creator

Paracelsus, 1493-1541

Source

Prognosticatio eximii doctoris Theophrasti Paracelsi reveals the prophecies of Theophrastus von Hohenheim, known as Paracelsus. Paracelsus was a revolutionary chemical physician also known for his occultist philosophy. This edition contains 32 prophesies and accompanying illustrations and may have been printed in France between 1560 and 1580.

Publisher

Digitized by the Historical Medical Library of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia

Date

between 1560 and 1580

Language

lat

Type

StillImage

Identifier

1f_257.pl1a
1f_257.pl1b

Original Format

1 print : etching

Physical Dimensions

10 x 8 cm

Citation

Paracelsus, 1493-1541, “The serpent and the millstones,” The College of Physicians of Philadelphia Digital Library, accessed March 29, 2024, https://cppdigitallibrary.org/items/show/2125.