In the early modern period writers of alchemical manuscripts increasingly chose to translate their experiences, observations and thoughts into images. Visual elements (symbols, sketches, diagrams, tables and illuminations) not only added to the terminology of alchemy and the representation of alchemical information; they also provided an instrument for the generation of knowledge. Symbols were used as a pragmatic shorthand in the production of manuscript texts; drawings of apparatus illustrated practical aspects of the art, often with mnemonic functions; the famous Lullian diagrams, circular schemes and trees, lent a structure to the underlying concepts of alchemical processes; and more elaborate illuminations often depicted the metaphorical elements of alchemical expression in a colourful, at times contemplative, way.

In the sixteenth century in particular, medical approaches to alchemy, humanistic methods of manuscript compilation and royal interests in the art prompted the production of codices with rather peculiar traits. In spite of their heterogeneous approaches to visual representations these manuscripts show a general tendency towards a distinctly post-medieval conception of manuscript space and its uses in alchemical contexts. They also, implicitly, map the development of pictorial vocabularies and conventions around alchemical theory and practice.

This paper will discuss the functions of images and imagery in a series of sixteenth-century alchemical manuscripts now held at the Austrian National Library. After an initial survey of the pictorial elements of early modern alchemy it will focus on selected examples to approach the following questions: what functions did images, as opposed to linguistic descriptions or metaphors, fulfil in alchemical, and alchemo-medical, contexts? And how did the use of non-verbal imagery shape the conceptualisation of alchemical theory and practice? A consideration of images as instruments, models, epistemic tools and mnemonic devices will be balanced with a close look at the manuscripts as objects.