Hermeticism and Alchemy. The Case of Ludovico Lazzarelli.pdf

Hermeticism and Alchemy: The Case of Ludovico Lazzarelli Author(s): Chiara Crisciani Source: Early Science and Medicine, Vol. 5, No. 2, Alchemy and Hermeticism (2000), pp. 145159 Published by: BRILL Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4130473 Accessed: 26/09/2008 14:59 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=bap. Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1995 to build trusted digital archives for scholarship. We work with the scholarly community to preserve their work and the materials they rely upon, and to build a common research platform that promotes the discovery and use of these resources. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

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HERMETICISMAND ALCHEMY:THE CASE OF LUDOVICO LAZZARELLI CHIARACRISCIANI Department of Philosophy, University of Pavia

1. There are various kinds of documentation regarding the alchemical interests of Ludovico Lazzarelli (1450-1500).' We have no statements of his as to his actual working commitments; however, Lazzarelli himself declares that he had been the disciple of a master alchemist, namely the Burgundian John Rigaud de Branchis, who was certainly practicing in Siena in 1494. Moreover, in some texts, Lazzarelli was surely connected with alchemy in a number of ways. Up to now I have identified three such texts: 1) The transcription of the Pretiosa Margarita Novella of Petrus Bonus, with a dedicatory verse written by Lazzarelli,2 in which the latter offers Petrus' text to John Rigaud and fervently praises both the author ('nomine reque bonus,' the pride of 'inclita Ferraria') and the 1 On Lazzarellisee, in addition to the more remote studies V.K. by Ohly and V.B. McDaniel, P.O. Kristeller,"MarsilioFicino e Lodovico Lazzarelli.Contributo alla diffusione delle idee ermetiche nel Rinascimento";id., "Ancoraper Giovanni Mercurio da Correggio," in id., Studies on Renaissance Thought and Letters (Rome,

1956), 221-257; id., "Lodovico Lazzarelli e Giovanni da Correggio, due ermetici del Quattrocento, e il manoscritto II.D.I.4 della Biblioteca Comunale degli Ar-

denti di Viterbo," in A. Pepponi, ed., Biblioteca degli Ardenti della cittdadi Viterbo. Studi e ricerchenel 150" della fondazione (Viterbo, 1960), 15-37; F.A Yates, Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition (London, 1964), passim; D.P.Walker, Spiritual and Demonic Magic from Ficino to Campanella (London, 1958), 60-72; E. Garin, M. Brini,

C. Vasoli, P. Zambelli, eds., Testiumanisticisu l'Ermetismo (Rome, 1955); D.B. Ruderman, "GiovanniMercurio da Correggio's Appearance in Italy as Seen through the Eyes of an ItalianJew,"in RenaissanceQuarterly,28.3 (1975), 309-322; S. Sosti,

"Il 'Crater Hermetis' di Ludovico Lazzarelli," in Quaderni dell'Istituto Nazionale di Studi sul Rinascimento meridionale, 1 (1984), 101-132; C. Moreschini, Dall' 'Asclepio' al 'CraterHermetis' Studi sull'ermetismotardo antico e rinascimentale (Pisa, 1985); M.

Idel, "Hermeticism and Judaism,"in I. Merkel and A.G. Debus, eds., Hermeticism and the Renaissance (Washington, 1988), 68-70; E. Garin, Ermetismodel Rinascimento (Rome, 1988); F. Bacchelli, Giovanni Pico e Pierleone da Spoleto. Nuovi frammenti del 'Commentosopra una canzona de amore' (Florence, 2000).

2 Modena, Biblioteca Estense, ms lat. 299 (the dedicatory verse has been edited in Kristeller, "Ancoraper," 257). On Petrus Bonus see C. Vasoli, in Dizionario

biografico degli Italiani (Rome, 1970), 1:287-289; C. Crisciani, ed., Pietro Bono da Ferrara, Preziosa Margarita Novella. Edizione del volgarizzamento (Florence, 1976),

Introduction; ead., "The Conception of Alchemy as Expressed in the 'Pretiosa MargaritaNovella' of Petrus Bonus of Ferrara,"in Ambix,20 (1973), 165-181.

? Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2000

Early Science and Medicine 5, 2

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recipient. 2) A collection of alchemical texts,3 known as the Vademecum.These texts are all of a practical and Lullian tone. Indeed, the first treatise, which is original and anonymous, is defined as 'ex intentione Raymundi'; one text, the De investigatione lapidis, is part of the pseudo-Lullian corpus;4 there follow 'excerpta ex libris Raymundi' (in Latin and in the vernacular) and various practical Tabule; finally it contains the procedure to obtain the 'arcanum elexiris de inventione magistri Joannis Rigaudi de Branchis', which he had made in Siena in 1494 'in societate magistri Alberti perusini phisici.' 3) The dedicatory verse and the prologue, both definitely written by Lazzarelli, which preface this collection." The first few lines wish well to the "liber collega arcani laboris, fidus perpetuusque comes."6 The collection that follows thus seems to be a true guide that aims at involving Lazzarelli in practical knowledge and works. Moreover, it is right in this prologue that Lazzarelli delineates a magistral genealogy in which he presents himself, disciple of John Rigaud that he is, as the heir to a line that goes back to Lull, and thence to Arnold, who had, in turn, learned "a quodam magistro Petro." The alchemical books that Lazzarelli surely had at his disposal comprised an extensive and systematic doctrinal text, the Pretiosa Margarita, and some short operative writings that refer to 'Lull.' 3 Florence, Biblioteca Riccardiana, ms 984; the edition of both the opening verses and the prologue can be found in M. Brini, "Ludovico Lazzarelli. Testi scelti", in E. Garin et al., Testiumanistici,75-77; cf. also Chantilly, Musec Conde, ms 419 (919): this manuscript contains texts in the Italian vernacular and, in the first treatise, the Secretumwritten particular, the prologue to the Vademecum, by John Rigaud de Branchis. 4 M. Pereira, TheAlchemical CorpusAttributedto RaymondLull (London, 1989), 85. 5 Created in 1495, this collection seems to be one of the results of the Lazzarelli's editing activities:see also his 'Hermetic' collection with three introductions for Giovanni Mercurio (Kristeller, "MarsilioFicino", Appendix with the edition of the introductions). The opening Tabula (ed. Brini, "Testi", 76-77), written subsequently, attributes the first treatise in the collection to Lazzarelli (Tractatus de alchimia),but he actuallywrote only the prologue and collected and edited the works. The collection is not explicitly dedicated to John Rigaud, but it is explicitly linked to his teaching, as can be inferred from the genealogy presented in the prologue (ed. Brini, 76); moreover, in the text on the preparation of the elixir by John Rigaud (f.33v), it is declared that "hoc arcanum ipse magister Joanes mihi ex maxima sui liberalitate ore proprio revelavit";cf. L. Thorndike, Historyof Magic and ExperimentalScience(New York, 1923-1950), 5:533-34; 6:43738. 6 Brini, "Testi",75.

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There is nothing surprising in this modest but well-balanced repertoire. Indeed, during the Quattrocento, there was a general acceptance of the two-fold tradition that derived from 'Geber' (indeed Bonus, on several occasions, declares-truthfully-that he owes much to Geber) and from 'Lull'. So Lazzarelli is fully in line with choices that, in the Quattrocento, were widespread and consolidated. The two traditions were often interwoven and understood to be complementary.7 However, the textual choices made by Lazzarelli deserve some further consideration. Bonus' treatise does not confine itself to reformulating 'Geber"s conceptions. Its importance lies (then and subsequently) not only in its thorough definition of the relationship between alchemy and natural philosophy in an Aristotelian and scholastic context, but also in Bonus' thorough treatment of other issues that may have held a more specific interest for Lazzarelli: the underlying reasons for the concealing language of alchemists and its forms; the initiatory feature of the transmission of alchemical knowledge; and, above all, the 'partim divina' structure of alchemy in general and of the lapis in particular, which was also interpreted as a miracle and a 'donum Dei.' Bonus' considerations on the poets who made reference to the alchemical opus in their poems and myths, on the prophets who speak mistice also on the subject of alchemy, on the ancient alchemists (in the first place Hermes) who, as witnesses of the marvellous alchemical transformations and the extraordinary nature of the lapis/miracle, were necessarily also prophets of Christian events and truths,s--all of these are themes that Lazzarelli must have particularly appreciated. Indeed, his main interest seems from quite early on to have been directed towards the topic of transformation, in whatever way it was approached. In fact, already in his youth (long before his 'conversion to Hermeticism' which followed his meeting with Giovanni 'Mercurio' da Correggio in 1484)', he wrote the short 7 C. Crisciani and M. Pereira, "L'alchimia nella transizione fra Medioevo e Rinascimento," in Storia della scienza Treccani (Rome, forthcoming), IV, part C, chp.13.1. see Petrus Bonus, Pretiosa Margarita Novella (ed. J.J. 8 For these themes Manget, Bibliotheca Chemica Curiosa, (Geneva, 1702), 2:1-80), 29-31, 50-54. Lazzarelli describes the Hermetic appearance of Giovanni Mercurio and his 9 own reactions to it in the Epistola Enoch (ed. Brini, "Testi", 34-50); cf. also Kristeller, "Ancora per", 256, for the incunabulum and another manuscript of the text; cf. Rudeman, "Giovanni Mercurio."

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poem Bombix,1owhere he set forth and 'concealed', within the story of the metamorphosis of the silkworm, palingenetic ideas on regeneration from flesh to spiritual perfection. Amongst other things, in his main work CraterHermetis," he describes the creationtransformation of 'new men' in a context that stresses the convergence, if not equivalence, of Hermeticism and the Christian religion. The close connection that Bonus had established between alchemical and Christian truths and his interpretation that concrete alchemical changes embodied religious truths certainly appeared to him of great interest within the framework of his syncretistic approach.12 As for the texts collected in the Vademecum,few explanations are needed in order to show the reasons for this Lullian choice, which was not only Lazzarelli's but, first and foremost, John Rigaud's (as is clear from the text attributed to him). The texts of pseudo-Lullis convey an extension of alchemical theory, which is presented as a real philosophy of nature drawn up by alchemist philosophers, defined as filii Hermetis. They also broaden the scope of the improvements brought about by the lapis-elixir, which acts not only on minerals, but also on vegetable life and on the body of man, for whom it promotes long life and well-being. Pseudo-Lull thus proposes a general project for the transformation and restoration of both man and the cosmos which ranges from transmutation to a universal therapy. The models and aims of perfection to which the Testamentumrefers are, on one hand, the image of the perfect body of man as represented by Adam and, on the other hand, the image of the earth taken back, through a positive apocalypse, to the pure and immobile perfection of the crystal. 14 In the pseudoLullian corpus there is also some account of special divine revelations and of initiatory bonds linking master and disciple.'5 10

Ludovici Lazzarelli Septempedanis...Bombix...Joanne Francisco Lancillottio a auctore...(Aesi, 1765), cf. Brini "Testi";Garin, "Ermetismo." Staphilo " For the complex situation linked with the printing of this text, its editions and interpretations, see the studies quoted above, note 1. 12 A significant trace of Lazzarelli'sparticular interest in Bonus can be found in De rationeconficiendilapidisphilosophiciby Lorenzo Ventura (Basle, 1571), who often quotes Bonus, sometimes in connection with Lazzarelli. 1' See M. Pereira and B. Spaggiari, eds., 11 'Testamentum' alchemicoattribuitoa RaimondoLullo (Florence, 1999); M. Pereira, L'orodeifilosofi.Saggiosulle ideedi un alchimistadel Trecento(Spoleto, 1992) and Pereira'smany other studies on pseudoLullian alchemy. 14 Testamentum, 254, 170. 15

Cf., e.g., ps.-Lullus, Codicillus(ed. Manget, 1), 908B. The first treatise in the


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These themes are definitely not in contrast with Lazzarelli's characteristic Hermetic philosophic approach. 2. The style of the Vademecumcollection deserves a more indepth analysis, as also do the features of the first anonymous treatise (Tractatus de Alchimia, not attributed to Lull, and attributed in the Tabula to Lazzarelli). The collection consists purely of practical texts. These are not, however, simply recipes or instructions, but are, from an epistemological point of view, Practicae, in other words, practical directions incorporating theories. Although I have no definite proof, I am inclined to believe that these texts, in particular the Tractatus, the best organized of the collection, are connected with the teachings of John Rigaud. In any case, the Tractatus shows a highly professional alchemist, who carefully and thoroughly presents technical expedients and ingenious contrivances (clearly the product of his effective and innovative laboratory work, as for instance tests for measuring fire, devices for sealing recipients, etc.)'6 and who also pays careful attention to the social repercussions of his work. So, for example, the author provides careful instructions regarding the social criteria according to which the elixir should be distributed and administered.'7 Moreover, the author also interprets the religioussoteriological nature of the opus in very concrete terms: the alchemist should donate a part of the profit from his work (deriving from transmutation or therapy) to the poor, through the institutional channels of the seven works of charity of the Christian pastoral.18 Finally, the text ends with the hope that it might be possible to convert the enemies of the Catholic faith with the aid of the universal alchemical remedy.'" Vademecumrefers briefly to these themes when the author declares that, for love of his disciple, "hoc arcanum Dei pono in manum animae tuae.." (f.3v). 16 See especially ibid., ff. 4r-5r. 17 Indeed, it should be applied in a different way to the rich and the poor: ibid., ff. 5v-6r. 18 Ibid. ff. 5r-6r. 19 Ibid., f. 8r: "Imo erit patriarca mundi inmortalis convertens omnes suos inimicos ad suam fidem catolicam." The subject of pagan enemies, sometimes the Turks, is a common theme in alchemical texts of the time: see, e.g., Cristoforo da Parigi, Elucidarius (ed. in L. Zetzner, Theatrum Chemicum, (Strasbourg, 1661), 6:199: with the alchemical results "Turcam ex Asia minore fugare poteris"; Antonio dell'Abbazia, Revelazione (Chantilly, Mus6e Conde, ms 419 (919), ff. 45r47), f.46r: "[...] potresti far longhissima guera agli infideli, e agiustar il loco dove il Signor nostro pati morte per recuperare queli che perduti erano"; f.46v: "con questo potresti fare longhisima guerra agli infideli e aquistar il loco nel qual fo

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The text proposes, as do various other fifteenth-century works, a definite shift to the therapeutic-medical goals of alchemy, without however eliminating the aim of transmutation. Here there are two remarkable aspects. First and foremost, the medical elixir is interpreted as an additive which has a special, attractive way of acting, partially similar to that of theriac. These issues were widely debated over the same period of time also in other texts both alchemical and medical dealing with potable gold, the fifth essence, and the universal remedy.20 In the second place, the author proposes a reflection (that is rather interesting from the epistemological point of view) on the possibilities of verifying the transmutation of metals and the alchemical therapy, and concludes that the latter is easier to judge. Indeed, the biological-medical paradigm proves to be clearly dominant, from a theoretical point of view, also with respect to transmutation.21 Finally, the author of the Tractatus also stresses the contiguous nature of religion and the opus. He finds it both in the aforementioned charitable acts which are required from the alchemist (the alchemical remedy, a free and divine gift, should translate into free gifts to the poor), and also in his references to the Scriptures. Thus the brief praise of the preparation and incorruptible nature of the lapis is expressed in terms of the phases of the Passion and Resurrection of Christ, as dato opera de Iddio alla nostra salute." (I have transcribed part of the texts of Antonio in C. Crisciani, "Fatichee promesse alchemiche," in S. Borutti, ed., Memoriae scritturadellafilosofia,forthcoming). This theme is particularlyemphasized in the alchemical text attributed to Giovanni Mercurio da Correggio, De Quercu

Julii Pontificis sive de lapide philosophico (London, British Museum, ms Harley 4081,

ff. lr-40r), e.g. f.2v: "Adturcorum mahomethanorumque ac paganorum omnium exercitus atque potentias sine armatura et absque ulla multorum militia ilico constringendum, fugandum exterminandumque,"and f.31r: "Etvinces tu quoque paganorum atque turcorum omnium turbas: non in virtute corporis nec in armaturapotentiae." Already Guilelmus Sedacer in his Summa(ed. P. Barth61emy, in progress) complains that alchemy is in the hands of the infidels: this knowledge must be retrieved, so that, with it, Christians (prologue to the second book): "[...] illam terram sanctam que longissimis temporibus ab infidelibus et nephandis nacionibus fuit atrociter conculcata et hodiernis temporibus heretice pretractur, valeant hostiliter et viriliter acquirere et possidere" (I thank P. Barth61emyfor this reference). 20 Cf. C. Crisciani and M. Pereira, "BlackDeath and Golden Remedies: Some Remarkson Alchemy and the Plague",in A. ParaviciniBagliani and F. Santi, eds., The Regulation ofEvil. Social and Cultural Attitudes to Epidemics in the Late Middle Ages

(Turnhout, 1998), 7-39; C.Crisciani, "Oro potabile tra alchimia e medicina: due

testi in tempo di peste", in Rendiconti Accademia Nazionale delle Scienze detta dei XL,

XXI,II,2 (1997), 83-93. 21

Tractatus, ff. 5v, 6rv.


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John Dastin had already done in his Visio, 'Arnold' in the Exempla, and, in particular, Bonus himself.22 In the text at hand, the reference to the topic of lapis/Christ is very brief and hence not comparable with the extensive treatment of it in the other texts I have mentioned. However, the few remarks we find are sufficient to establish a definite connection between lapis/Christ and the defeat of the enemies of the faith and thereby to imbue these practical instructions with an eschatological tinge. The Tractatus can thus include expectations of reformatio and religious unification, topics which Lazzarelli also develops in his Crater,although he obviously bases them philosophically on a thorough knowledge and an elaborate use of the Corpus Hermeticum and of the Cabala while inserting them into the irenic hopes for peace and concord typical of certain groups of Italian humanists.23 The Vademecumcollection is thus homogeneous and well-organized. It includes some technical texts and others that are more theoretical. The Tractatus is anything but trivial. Considering the work as a whole, we have here a very interesting collection, which is at the same time quite traditional. It contains certain aspects and topics that are, generally speaking, in harmony with Lazzarelli's philosophical perspectives, but is does not appear to be even slightly influenced by the radically new ideas Lazzarelli sets out in his prologue, which provides a framework and introduction to these texts. 3. The prologue opens with three quotations from the Tabula smaragdina, the Secretumsecretorum,and Picatrix.24At the beginning of the text, the name of Hermes, the father of Theologians, Magicians and Alchemists is solemnly evoked.25 He had revealed 'uno see Bonus, Pretiosa, 29-30;Johannis Daustenii Visio, ed. in Manget, 22 Ibid., f.8r.; 2: 324B-326; ps. Arnaud de Villeneuve, Tractatus parabolicus, ed. A. Calvet (Texte et traduction), in Chrysopoeia,V (1992-96), 145-171. 23 Cf. especially Garin, Ermetismo; Bacchelli, Giovanni Pico. Lazzarelli considers Picatrix the author of the Clavis sapientiae, which is usu24 ally attributed to Artefius. It is impossible to deal in this essay with the complex problem of these attributions; suffice it to remember that Lazzarelli may have known both texts (Picatrix and Clavis); both texts speak of the three coniunctiones that Lazzarelli uses; both have been considered magical texts; whichever of the two texts he uses, Lazzarelli follows it only loosely, for he does not quote either of them faithfully but elaborates to a high degree. Probably (even if this question deserves a more in-depth treatment) Lazzarelli is here found to carry out one of his habitual textual interlacements. 25 See Brini, "Testi", 75-76; cf. Thomas Norton: "Rex Hermes quoque idem fecit,/ Qui fuit vir eruditione celeberrimus:/ In quadripartitis suis Astrologiae/

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verborum contextu' the secrets of theology, magic, and alchemy to his children in the first aphorism of the Tabula,26where he pronounces the unitary, circular structure of reality. In the Secretum, Lazzarelliadds, 'Aristotle' repeats this pronouncement as if it were the product of the prophecy of 'pater noster Hermogenes.' However, he continues, these secreta(expressed in a single sentence which is fundamental for alchemists, magicians, and theologians) are those tria arcana that Picatrixdefines 'coniunctio corporis in corpore,' 'coniunctio spiritus in corpore,' and 'coniunctio spiritus in spirito.'27Note that the one-three structure is much stressed and surely intentional: one Pater legitimates three functions; one contextusof words provides a foundation for three sciences; three texts are embraced in a single tradition and by a single basic sentence; a single circular process of coniunctio (expressed in the Tabula) arranges itself in three more specified forms of coniunctionesbetween high and low. And indeed, following once more the one-three rhythm (but no longer the schema proposed by Picatrix or in the Clavis sapientiae), Lazzarelli specifies that these three coniunctiones,which correspond to the tria arcana and the three sciences, are actually three modes, three declinations of one single field, namely magic.28These three modes are magia naturalis, practiced by alchemists in making the 'coniunctio carnis celestis sive quintae essentiae cum corpore terrae virgineae et purificatae' (the result of which is the lapis 29); magia coelestis,the coniunctio of

the spirit of the planets with suitable corporeal images that produces mirabilias3;and finally, magia sacerdotalis et divina, which oc-

curs when the spirit of God unites with the spirit of man. All of Scripture speaks paraboliceof this last kind of magic, and Christ in the Gospels is the principal master of it. Artis medicae et huius Alchymiae,/Nec non magiae naturalis,/Veluti quattuor scientiis in natura existentibus [...]" (Crede mihi seu Ordinale, ed. Manget, 2: 290).

26 Cf. Brini, "Testi",75: "Quod est superius est sicut quod est inferius et quod est inferius est sicut quod est superius ad perpetranda miracula rei unius."

27 See D. Pingree, ed., Picatrix. The Latin version of the Ghayat Al-Hakim (London, 1986), 5, and Artefii Liber qui Clavis Maioris Sapientiae dicitur (ed. Manget, 1),

503A. I Brini, "Testi",75-76. 29 Note that one text of the ps.-LullianCorpus (the Compendiumartis alchimiae) appears also under the alternative title Ars magica naturalis;cf. Pereira, TheAlchemical Corpus, 69.

30 Lazzarelli does not intend to deal with this because it is abhorred by the holy Fathers (Brini, "Testi",76).


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Though this prologue really requires an extensive comment, I must confine myself here to a few considerations. First and foremost, I would like to point out that Lazzarelli chooses not to refer specifically to the Corpus Hermeticum (which was very well known to him), but instead to Hermes and to a wider and more composite Hermetic tradition, which also includes Alexander, an 'Aristotle', Picatrix and perhaps the Clavis sapientie. In the second place, I would like to stress the importance given to the Tabula. In Lazzarelli's eyes, this text has undoubtedly a technical and practical content, but at the same time also a highly philosophical relevance. It is a fundamental text with a manifold meaning."3 Finally, he stresses the affinity and mutual permeability, as it were, that link the Christian religion with Hermeticism (the pivotal subject of the Crater), in this case by connecting Hermes' Tabula (the root) via a series of steps with the Gospels (texts whose most divine magic had already been expressed). This prologue therefore offers possible insights into the relationship between the two types of acquisition of perfection, namely religious and alchemical, which could be seen as interchangeable due to the 'single sentence' by which they are revealed and established.32 Before examining this possible opening, let us consider what is said here regarding alchemy as such. The description of the alchemists' magic (connecting heavenly flesh or the fifth essence with the body of virginal earth) is very general and certainly does not describe specific operations. It is general, but in agreement with the indications contained in the Tabula regarding the relationship of mutual inclusion and circulation between high and low, heaven and earth. Moreover, although it is general, it expresses a line of 31

The polysemic radicality of the Tabula is also emphasized in the De lapide

philosophicoet de auro potabili ad summumpontificemby Guglielmo Fabri de Die (mid-fifteenth century; Bologna, Biblioteca Universitaria, ms lat. 104 (138), ff. 245r-253v), especially in the last section: cf. C. Crisciani, "From the Laboratory to the Library: Alchemy according to Guglielmo Fabri", in A. Grafton and N. Siraisi,

eds., Natural Particulars:Nature and the Disciplinesin RenaissanceEurope (Cam-

bridge, Mass., forthcoming). Note that references to the Tabula also appear in the Epistola Enoch, Lazzarelli's description of the Hermetic appearance of Giovanni Mercurio da Correggio (Brini, "Testi", 38,44). Here, Lazzarelli describes other experiences of transformation, and in particular, his own regeneration. " Bonus had already closely linked alchemical doctrines and operations with Christian truths, through textual comparison, suggesting that the respective writings are reciprocally metaphorical (Pretiosa, 29-30): see B. Obrist, "Les rapports d'analogie entre philosophie et alchimie medievales", in J-C. Margolin and S. Matton, eds., Alchimie et philosophie a' la Renaissance (Paris, 1993), esp. 56-58.

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doctrine that undoubtedly has Baconian and Lullian overtones. In this connection, we may refer back to the 'heavenly corporeal substance' and 'non-heavenly corporeal substance' of Roger Bacon; to the simple virginal element at the center of the elementarized earth of the Testamentum;and to the correspondence between the first matter and the fifth essence which is suggested in various ways by both authors.33 However, leaving aside these connections with alchemical texts, I propose to compare this passage on alchemy in the Vademecum with the most enigmatic and controversial passage in the Crater, which concerns the creation of 'new men.'34 This creation is a divinum opus, and King Ferdinand asks Lazzarelli, though without obtaining a reply, "quo ordine quave operatione tantum opus perficitur." These words have overtones that are operative and also specifically alchemical. Moreover, as far as the process of creation is concerned, Lazzarelli uses Eleazar of Worms' commentary on where this subject is treated as a recipe for making the Sefer Yezir&a, a Golem, instructions that are interpreted allegorically by Lazzarelli. In any case, the new man must be created out of 'terra rubra et virginea,' suitably laid out and vivified. In this respect, I agree with Garin and Bacchelli35 in seeing this not as an allegory of the relationship between master and disciple, but as a magic and cabalistic operation, which does not give rise to a metaphorical kind of generation of entities, but to a real, concrete generation, even if it is not corporeal. These concrete entities are "Angeli vite soci", doubles projected by one's own soul, personifications of the 'complete Nature' (a significant concept in Picatrix), and faculties that have turned into persons. They help man, teach him how to keep the soul-body compound sound and healthy, and send him prophetic dreams and sapiential teachings. This creation, which is admittedly practical, has concrete results, and is S For these themes see Pereira, L'oro,esp. 62-65, 184-85, 191; see also her paper in the present volume. Obviously this generic indication could also be referred to more precise directions contained in the texts of the Vademecum(see here, note 36). Ludovici Lazarelli Septempedanipoetae christiani ad divum Ferdinandum Ar. 3 Cf. Siciliae regem de summa hominis dignitate dialogus qui inscribitur via Christi et Crater

Hermetis,ed. in Moreschini, Dall' 'Asclepio,29.1, 259-261; for the interpretations of this 'creation' cf. Walker, Spiritual, 68-72; Garin, Ermetismo,59-62; Bacchelli, Giovanni Pico, 75-82.

'5 Bacchelli, 70-75; 83-84 highlights similar topics proposed by Giovanni Alamanno and Pierleone da Spoleto during the same years.


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based on passages from the CorpusHermeticum,cabalistic texts and Picatrix, is definitely not an alchemical opus. However, I would like to point out the contiguity, at least as far as the terms and especially the images are concerned, between the 'terra rubra virginea' of the Craterand the 'corpus terrae virgineae et purificatae' mentioned in the prologue to the Vademecum.There exists also a consonance of both these passages with the chapter on vivification of the lapis in De investigatione lapidis by pseudo-Lull (which is included in the collection36), where alchemists are taught to prepare a purified, white earth in which the operator should 'animam seminare' by means of a 'germen spirituale.' To sum up: Although we cannot go further than this on the basis of such faint consonances and generic assonances, we may at least make the following assertions: A) In the Vademecum,divine magic and natural magic/alchemy are definitely connected because both are rooted in the first aphorism of the Tabula. B) In the Crater,especially if compared with the whole Vademecum,37 we can at least recognize in the creation of 'new men' terms and images present in alchemical texts known to Lazzarelli. C) Lazzarelli's alchemical interests and readings are thus not the result of occasional curiosity, but act as ingredients, albeit less important than his cabalistic interests, but nonetheless specific,which are operative in the construction of his highly syncretistic repertoire of texts, terms and, above all, images. It is a repertoire that he uses (in an often tightly interwoven way) to elaborate both his conception of Hermetic magic in the Vademecum, and also his magic-Hermetic philosophy and theology in the Crater. 4. The problem of the relationship between the prologue and the texts of the Vademecumand, more generally, of the possible convergence between alchemical magic, sacerdotal and divine magic and also between religious perfection and alchemical perfection, which (as has been said) the prologue appears to consider interchangeable, remains open."3 Why do the new ideas in the prologue not influence the texts in the collection, either in style or in content? Why does Lazzarelli not fully develop the complemenVademecum,ff. 12rv. This reading is at least possible, because the dates of the two works are close, as they were both written between 1492 and 1495 (the precise date is uncertain). 38 Cf. above, pp. 152-153. 36 3'

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tarity and circularity of high and low pronounced in the aphorism of the Tabula? Why does he not therefore affirm that the highest theological magic (in the Vademecumand in the Crater)is 'alchemy' (in other words, a concrete transformation of the soul-mind), and that alchemy is the 'theology' of bodies (and in this case, really 'what is above is like what is below' and vice versa)? Yet, in addition to what Lazzarelli sets out in the prologue, the alchemical texts that he knew, notably 'Lull' and Bonus, could also allow this interpretation, even though with some effort. As I see it, there are two reasons why this is not the result: one is internal to Lazzarelli's philosophical approach; the other is connected with cultural transformations occurring around the middle of the Quattrocento and involving alchemy no less than the overall reassessment of disciplines and the status of the practices of transformation. The first point regards a tension not fully resolved in the prologue between a hierarchical and a circular conception.39 It is true that, in the prologue, the concepts of circularity and interpenetration of 'heaven' and 'earth' are often repeated; it is also true that each of the three types of magic proposes it in its own way, and each of them carries out the same process of unification of high and low and the creative and wonderful transformations deriving from it. The three types of 'magic' are thus structurally homogeneous and corresponding. However, it is also true that the three types of magic belong to a hierarchy of levels starting out from alchemy and ending in divine and sacerdotalis magic, a hierarchy in which the interpenetration of high and low is increasingly more refined. But it is precisely this tension between circularity and hierarchy that can help us to understand the relationship between the prologue and the subsequent texts. Indeed, if one places alchemy on a specific rung of the ladder in the unitary sphere of magic as a whole, as Lazzarelli does, it is not necessary to use the alchemical project and its operations to convey claims and programs that can be better developed at other levels of magic. Consistently, texts and doctrines elaborated by a long tradition are collected in the Vademecumwithout any modification of their content or style. Indeed, it was sufficient to provide, in the framework of the pro19This tension can also be noted in the initial dedicatory verse, where Lazzarelli declares (Brini, "Testi", 75) that "Res una alterius gradus est," and that "Omniaque esse unum."


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logue, the foundations and the overall meaning of what the collected texts contained. This prologue in fact aimed at dignifying natural magic/alchemy by setting it within the unifying framework of general magic. It seems to me that the same special relationship between framework and content can also clarify the more general link between Hermeticism and alchemy in the Quattrocento.40 We may once more start from the vantage point offered by the case of Lazzarelli. His Hermetic approach to alchemical texts (which surely Lazzarelli had chosen because they were consonant with his Hermetic interests for religiously qualified operative transformations) does not involve a development of the hints offered by those texts, or a treatment of them in a more explicitly Hermetic religious sense. For example, Lazzarelli does not turn practical instructions into spiritual processes, nor does he accentuate the allegorical and initiatory language of some alchemical works he knew. Therefore, Lazzarelli's Hermetic approach does not imply a reformulation of alchemical terminology, theories or operations. Rather, his intention seems to subsume completely traditional doctrines in the framework of a high Hermetic and philosophical evaluation of alchemy as a whole. In this way, he carries out a dignification of these doctrines from without, leaving their content In other words, this means that what in the unchanged. Quattrocento was a philosophically consistent, fully restored and culturally enhanced Corpus (the CorpusHermeticum) did not seem to be "embodied" in a necessary or favored way in the alchemical perspectives of the "filii Hermetis", who instead, since the twelfth century, had actually embodied the instances of transformation which the Hermetic philosophy had entailed since its origin.41 Clearly, the Hermetic framework of the Corpus Hermeticum was philosophically more important than the particular, specific disciplines it dealt with. A similar interpretation can also be applied to the relationship between magic and alchemy, which are now connected in relatively new ways. This is particularly noticeable in Lazzarelli's prologue, but is also present in other coeval texts.42 In my opinion, a de l'humanisme sur la tradition 40 See, in general, S. Matton, "L'influence alchimique," in Micrologus 3 (1995), 279-345, and the essays collected in Alchimie et philosophie a la Renaissance. 4a See Crisciani and Pereira, "Alchimia nella transizione", sections 5-6. 42 Cf., e.g., Guglielmo Fabri, De auro potabile et de lapide philosophorum;Giovanni

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radical rearrangement of the sciences and practices of transformation is taking place here, a rearrangement which involves texts, philosophical commitments, programs for renovatio, definitions of science and knowledge, styles of thinking. This rearrangement entails not the dilation of the alchemical project, but instead its narrowing and its inclusion as a part-in fact not even its most important part-of the overall project of magic, which now appears as a philosophically structured and all-pervasive perspective. Obviously, this rearrangement does not exclude alchemy, but attributes to it a different (and perhaps less important) role than the one it had played in medieval culture from the twelfth to the fourteenth centuries. Indeed, during that period, the alchemists' texts, theories and laboratories had perhaps been the most appropriate places for proposing transformations and vivifications of matter. In the Quattrocento (and after Ficino), not the alchemical laboratory, but the whole cosmos was to be considered the place of transformation, animated by a vivifying spirit and pervaded by influences that could be governed according to the rules of the "Natura maga" 43 and by the spiritual power of the sage. The sage could choose various paths and different operations (the efficacy of music, the force of images and talismans, the power of words) both to perfect himself and to achieve wonderful transformations in nature. It is no coincidence that Ficino and Pico-to give two examples whose connection with Lazzarelli is doculittle, occasional, or no attention to alchemy as mented-paid such. They obviously had no need to link their theories of transformation to alchemical practices. But precisely because Lazzarelli was highly interested in alchemy, he inaugurated and rendered explicit this kind of inclusion of alchemy in the vast theoretical and practical fields of the new magic. At the same time, he confined alchemy to a lower level of magic, namely to the one that actually involved a reduction of the philosophical and operative vitality and richness of the alchemical trends of the late Middle Ages. Antonio Mercurio da Correggio, De QuercuJuliiPontificissive de lapidephilosophico; dell'Abazia, Revelatione....The connection between magic and alchemy in the Middle Ages is quite rare and is mainly expressed in criticism expressed by nonalchemists: in any case, it takes quite different forms (see the positions of Albert the Great and Roger Bacon). 11 See A. Tarabochia Canavero, "Traermetismo e neoplatonismo: l'immagine della 'Natura maga' in Marsilio Ficino", in Neoplatonisme et philosophiemediivale: ActesColloqueInt. SIEPM(Turnhout, 1997), 273-290.


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The definite decline in theoretical commitments and the start of a syncretistic popularization which one may observe in the alchemical texts of the Quattrocento, are perhaps also due to these profound changes in the philosophical culture of that century. With the progression of time, we may observe the conversion of alchemy into a relatively static esoteric tradition which was activated metaphorically for religious and erudite aims, and also the fragmentation of its remains and their redistribution into different fields, notably into a new metallurgy, a new pharmacology, and into the 'science of secrets,' the new reservoir of operative knowledge, of recipes, promises, and arcana." SUMMARY

This paper examines the alchemical interests of Ludovico Lazzarelli (1450-1500) and of some alchemical texts connected with his name, analyzing them within the context of Lazzarelli'sHermetic philosophical position. Beginning with an analysis of the specific relationship between alchemy and Hermeticism expressed by Lazzarelli,this paper proposes for discussion some general hypotheses on the link between alchemy and Hermeticism and between alchemy and magic in the Quattrocento. 44

Cf. W. Eamon, Scienceand theSecretsof Nature (Princeton, 1994) and his pa-

per in the presentvolume.

Hermeticism and Alchemy. The Case of Ludovico Lazzarelli.pdf

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