Salvator Mundi

The upper portion of the composition features the Sun and a crescent Moon, both rendered with human facial features and expressive eyes. Below these celestial bodies stands a basilisk, shown in profile with a cockerel's comb and beak, feathered wings, and a long, scaly tail that coils into a loop. The work displays precise line work typical of Dürer's studies, detailing the individual rays of the sun and the texture of the creature's scales.

The basilisk was a staple of the medieval bestiary tradition, often described as the 'king of serpents' whose gaze could kill, a concept later adopted into alchemical symbolism to represent the transformative 'fire' or the mercury of the philosophers. The inclusion of Sol and Luna (Sun and Moon) suggests an alchemical or cosmological context, representing the fundamental duality of masculine and feminine principles common in Renaissance natural philosophy.