Rosarium Philosophorum: Fermentation

A black-and-white woodcut print depicts a nude, winged hermaphroditic figure lying horizontally across a stone tomb or sarcophagus. The figure has female breasts and male genitalia, with large, spread wings extending upward behind its back. Above the figure, a small dove descends, representing the infusion of spirit (pneuma) into the physical form, a process known in alchemy as fermentation or the 'resurrection' of the body. The background features stylized, rolling mounds of earth.

This image is the eleventh plate from the 'Rosarium Philosophorum', an influential 16th-century alchemical treatise. It illustrates the stage of fermentation, where the decomposed matter of the earlier putrefaction stage is reanimated by the spirit.