Detail of Solve et coagula by Corrado Vanelli on CGSociety. Click for full image (1,000px × 1,618px).

Alchemy is both a philosophy and an ancient practice focused on the attempt to change base metals into gold, investigating the preparation of the “elixir of longevity”, and achieving ultimate wisdom. The image above represents an allegory of the alchemy motto “solve et coagula” (separate and join together, or dissolve and coagulate). Literally, solve et coagula means that something must be broken down before it can be built up. One interpretation of this maxim is that the body must be dissolved before the spirit can be built up.

The picture was created by Italian digital artist Corrado Vanelli (website), and illustrates the alchemy maxim not as a joke for charlatans but as a hidden way to discover the meaning of life. Vanelli is a mechanical designer by profession and paints for fun, using Painter, Photoshop and a Wacom tablet. He publishes under the moniker Narcius on CGSociety.

Solve et coagula is a remastered version of Bouguereau’s quintessential 1895 work Le Ravissement de Psyche (The Rapture of Psyche). Below you can compare the two versions. Click the first to visit the gallery where you will find over 80 (!) contemporary variations of the original work. Click the second to view Solve et coagula on CGSiciety.