CHEMICAL THEATER original Latin: "Theatrum Chymicum"

or

THE OPENED DOOR

of all Chemical Secrets.

An intricately engraved frontispiece is divided into two horizontal panels. The top panel depicts a busy alchemical laboratory situated beneath a draped banner that contains the book's title. In the foreground, two men dressed in long robes and turbans examine a glass flask. One man holds the vessel while the other gestures toward it. Below them, a third figure is hunched over a brick furnace, tending to the fire. To the right, another assistant works at a bench cluttered with alembics and retorts. The room is filled with scientific apparatus, including various vessels on shelves and large distillation equipment. An archway in the center background reveals an inner chamber where another person is visible working. The bottom panel shows a landscape of mining and resource extraction. On the left, laborers use pickaxes at the base of a cliff and a large tree. In the center, a man pushes a wooden wheelbarrow. To the right, teams of workers are engaged near a large wooden hoisting structure or well. The background features rolling hills, mountains, and a distant body of water.