The Rebis and the Tree of Heads

This black-and-white print depicts a central androgynous figure with two heads wearing a single crown, endowed with large feathered wings and standing upon a crescent moon. In their right hand, the figure holds a cup containing three small, dragon-like heads; in their left hand, they grasp a serpent. To the left stands a plant with a central stalk bearing ten human heads as fruit, while to the right, a bird stands on a mound of earth. The composition is stark and illustrative, characteristic of early modern alchemical woodcuts.

This image is a variant of the 'Rebis' (the divine hermaphrodite) found in alchemical emblem books, symbolizing the union of opposites—sun and moon, male and female, sulfur and mercury—necessary for the completion of the Magnum Opus. It draws upon the visual vocabulary of the 'Rosarium philosophorum' tradition, which uses such figures to represent the final synthesis of the alchemical process.