3-057-254 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

The stage of the white elixir, a queen or Rosa alba (the white rose),15th century. The queen is dressed all in white, with Latin text below and on bands of scrolling parchment either side of her. The stage of the white elixir was the second stage of the alchemical process that took place after the black stage, but before the red stage. If these colours appeared in the wrong order it was believed that the process had failed. From Alchemy: General collections and anonymous treatises and processes in prose and verse.