The Black Angel of the Aurora Consurgens

A figure depicted as an angel with dark skin and large, prominent green wings stands frontally, centered against a vibrant red background radiating light. The angel wears a simple, floor-length white shift and is positioned with feet resting atop a dark, circular globe or stone. With both hands, the figure pulls apart the front of its gown to expose its torso, where a human heart is visibly rendered, bleeding or pierced. The style is that of a medieval manuscript illumination, characterized by flat forms and bold, symbolic color choices.

This image originates from the 'Aurora Consurgens', a 15th-century alchemical treatise attributed to pseudo-Thomas Aquinas. The motif of the 'black sun' or dark angel represents the 'nigredo' stage of alchemy, symbolizing death, putrefaction, and the foundational dissolution necessary for the transformation of matter into the philosopher's stone.