hermeticism and alchemy. the case of ludovico lazzarelli.pdf
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8/11/2019 Hermeticism and Alchemy. The Case of Ludovico Lazzarelli.pdf
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Hermeticism and Alchemy: The Case of Ludovico Lazzarelli
Author(s): Chiara CriscianiSource: Early Science and Medicine, Vol. 5, No. 2, Alchemy and Hermeticism (2000), pp. 145-159Published by: BRILLStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4130473
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8/11/2019 Hermeticism and Alchemy. The Case of Ludovico Lazzarelli.pdf
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HERMETICISM
AND
ALCHEMY:
THE CASE
OF
LUDOVICO
LAZZARELLI
CHIARA
CRISCIANI
Department
of
Philosophy,
University of
Pavia
1. There
are various kinds
of
documentation
regarding
the
al-
chemical
interests
of
Ludovico
Lazzarelli
(1450-1500).'
We
have no
statements
of his
as
to
his actual
working
commitments;
however,
Lazzarelli himself declares that he had been the disciple of a mas-
ter
alchemist,
namely
the
Burgundian
John
Rigaud
de
Branchis,
who was
certainly
practicing
in Siena in 1494.
Moreover,
in some
texts,
Lazzarelli was
surely
connected
with
alchemy
in
a
number
of
ways.
Up
to
now
I
have identified
three
such
texts:
1)
The
tran-
scription
of the Pretiosa
Margarita
Novella
of
Petrus
Bonus,
with a
dedicatory
verse
written
by
Lazzarelli,2
in
which the latter
offers
Petrus' text to
John Rigaud
and
fervently praises
both
the
author
('nomine
reque
bonus,'
the
pride
of 'inclita
Ferraria')
and
the
1
On
Lazzarelli
see,
in
addition to the more remote
studies
by
V.K.
Ohly
and
V.B. McDaniel, P.O. Kristeller, MarsilioFicino e Lodovico Lazzarelli.Contributo
alla
diffusione delle
idee
ermetiche nel
Rinascimento ; d.,
Ancora
per
Giovanni
Mercurio da
Correggio,
in
id.,
Studies on
Renaissance
Thought
and Letters
(Rome,
1956),
221-257;
id.,
Lodovico Lazzarelli e Giovanni da
Correggio,
due
ermetici
del
Quattrocento,
e il
manoscritto
II.D.I.4
della Biblioteca
Comunale
degli
Ar-
denti
di
Viterbo,
in A.
Pepponi,
ed.,
Biblioteca
degli
Ardenti
della
cittdadi
Viterbo.
Studi e
ricerchenel 150
della
fondazione
(Viterbo, 1960),
15-37;
F.A
Yates,
Giordano
Bruno
and the Hermetic Tradition
(London,
1964),
passim;
D.P.Walker,
Spiritual
and
Demonic
Magic from
Ficino
to
Campanella
(London, 1958),
60-72;
E.
Garin,
M.
Brini,
C.
Vasoli,
P.
Zambelli,
eds.,
Testiumanistici
u
l'Ermetismo
Rome,
1955);
D.B.
Ru-
derman,
Giovanni
Mercurio
da
Correggio's
Appearance
in
Italy
as
Seen
through
the
Eyes
of an Italian
Jew,
n
Renaissance
Quarterly,
8.3
(1975),
309-322;
S.
Sosti,
Il
'Crater Hermetis'
di
Ludovico
Lazzarelli,
in
Quaderni
dell'Istituto
Nazionale
di
Studi
sul Rinascimento
meridionale,
1
(1984),
101-132;
C.
Moreschini,
Dall'
'Asclepio'
al
'CraterHermetis' Studi
sull'ermetismo
tardo
antico
e
rinascimentale
(Pisa, 1985);
M.
Idel, Hermeticism andJudaism, n I. Merkel and A.G. Debus, eds., Hermeticism
and the
Renaissance
(Washington,
1988),
68-70;
E.
Garin,
Ermetismo
del
Rinascimento
(Rome,
1988);
F.
Bacchelli,
Giovanni Pico
e
Pierleone
da
Spoleto.
Nuovi
frammenti
del
'Commento
sopra
una
canzona
de amore'
(Florence,
2000).
2
Modena,
Biblioteca
Estense,
ms lat.
299
(the
dedicatory
verse has been
ed-
ited
in
Kristeller,
Ancora
per,
257).
On
Petrus Bonus see C.
Vasoli,
in
Dizionario
biografico degli
Italiani
(Rome, 1970),
1:287-289;
C.
Crisciani,
ed.,
Pietro
Bono da
Ferrara,
Preziosa
Margarita
Novella.
Edizione del
volgarizzamento
(Florence,
1976),
Introduction;
ead.,
The
Conception
of
Alchemy
as
Expressed
in
the 'Pretiosa
Margarita
Novella' of
Petrus Bonus of
Ferrara,
n
Ambix,
20
(1973),
165-181.
?
Koninklijke
Brill
NV, Leiden,
2000
Early
Science and Medicine
5,
2
-
8/11/2019 Hermeticism and Alchemy. The Case of Ludovico Lazzarelli.pdf
3/16
146 CHIARA CRISCIANI
recipient.
2)
A collection of
alchemical
texts,3
known as the
Vademecum.
These
texts
are all
of a
practical
and
Lullian tone. In-
deed,
the
first
treatise,
which is
original
and
anonymous,
is
defined
as
'ex
intentione
Raymundi';
one
text,
the
De
investigatione lapidis,
is
part
of the
pseudo-Lullian
corpus;4
there
follow
'excerpta
ex
libris
Raymundi'
(in
Latin
and
in the
vernacular)
and various
prac-
tical
Tabule;
finally
it contains
the
procedure
to obtain
the
'arcanum
elexiris
de inventione
magistri Joannis
Rigaudi
de
Branchis',
which
he
had
made
in
Siena
in
1494 'in
societate
magistri
Alberti
perusini phisici.'
3)
The
dedicatory
verse and the
prologue, both definitely written by Lazzarelli, which preface this
collection.
The
first
few lines
wish
well to the
liber
collega
arcani
laboris,
fidus
perpetuusque
comes. 6
The
collection that follows
thus
seems to
be a true
guide
that aims
at
involving
Lazzarelli
in
practical
knowledge
and works.
Moreover,
it
is
right
in this
pro-
logue
that Lazzarelli delineates
a
magistral genealogy
in
which he
presents
himself,
disciple
of
John Rigaud
that he
is,
as the heir to
a line
that
goes
back to
Lull,
and
thence
to
Arnold,
who
had,
in
turn,
learned
a
quodam
magistro
Petro.
The
alchemical
books that Lazzarelli
surely
had
at his
disposal
comprised
an extensive and
systematic
doctrinal
text,
the Pretiosa
Margarita,
and some short
operative
writings
that
refer to 'Lull.'
3
Florence,
Biblioteca
Riccardiana,
ms
984;
the
edition of
both the
opening
verses and the
prologue
can be
found
in
M.
Brini,
Ludovico
Lazzarelli.
Testi
scelti ,
in
E. Garin
et
al.,
Testi
umanistici,75-77;
cf.
also
Chantilly,
Musec
Conde,
ms 419
(919):
this
manuscript
contains
texts
in
the
Italian
vernacular
and,
in
particular,
the
prologue
to the
Vademecum,
he first
treatise,
the Secretum
ritten
by
John Rigaud
de
Branchis.
4
M.
Pereira,
The
Alchemical
Corpus
Attributedo
Raymond
Lull
(London,
1989),
85.
5
Created
in
1495,
this collection
seems
to
be one
of the
results of the Lazza-
relli's
editing
activities:
ee also his
'Hermetic' collection
with
three introductions
for Giovanni Mercurio
(Kristeller,
Marsilio
Ficino ,
Appendix
with the edition
of the
introductions).
The
opening
Tabula
(ed.
Brini,
Testi ,
76-77),
written
subsequently, attributes the first treatise in the collection to Lazzarelli (Tractatus
de
alchimia),
but he
actually
wrote
only
the
prologue
and collected
and
edited the
works. The collection
is
not
explicitly
dedicated to
John Rigaud,
but it is
explic-
itly
linked to
his
teaching,
as can
be inferred from
the
genealogy
presented
in
the
prologue
(ed.
Brini,
76);
moreover,
in
the text on
the
preparation
of
the
elixir
byJohn Rigaud
(f.33v),
it is declared
that hoc
arcanum
ipse magister
Joanes
mihi
ex
maxima
sui
liberalitate
ore
proprio
revelavit ;
f.
L.
Thorndike,
Historyof Magic
and
Experimental
cience
New
York,
1923-1950),
5:533-34;
6:437-
38.
6
Brini,
Testi ,
75.
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THE CASE OF LUDOVICO LAZZARELLI 147
There is
nothing
surprising
in this
modest but well-balanced
rep-
ertoire.
Indeed,
during
the
Quattrocento,
there was a
general
ac-
ceptance
of the two-fold tradition that derived from
'Geber'
(in-
deed
Bonus,
on
several
occasions,
declares-truthfully-that
he
owes
much
to
Geber)
and from 'Lull'.
So
Lazzarelli is
fully
in
line
with
choices
that,
in
the
Quattrocento,
were
widespread
and con-
solidated. The two traditions were often
interwoven and
under-
stood to be
complementary.7
However,
the textual choices made
by
Lazzarelli
deserve
some
further
consideration. Bonus' treatise
does not
confine itself to
reformulating
'Geber s
conceptions.
Its
importance
lies
(then
and
subsequently)
not
only
in
its
thorough
definition of the relation-
ship
between
alchemy
and
natural
philosophy
in
an Aristotelian
and
scholastic
context,
but
also
in
Bonus'
thorough
treatment
of
other issues that
may
have held
a more
specific
interest
for
Lazzarelli: the
underlying
reasons for
the
concealing
language
of
alchemists and
its
forms;
the
initiatory
feature of
the
transmission
of alchemical
knowledge;
and,
above
all,
the
'partim
divina'
struc-
ture
of
alchemy
in
general
and of
the
lapis
in
particular,
which was
also
interpreted
as
a
miracle
and
a
'donum Dei.'
Bonus'
consid-
erations on the
poets
who
made
reference to
the
alchemical
opus
in their
poems
and
myths,
on the
prophets
who
speak
mistice
also
on the subject of alchemy, on the ancient alchemists (in the first
place
Hermes)
who,
as
witnesses
of
the
marvellous
alchemical
transformations and
the
extraordinary
nature of
the
lapis/miracle,
were
necessarily
also
prophets
of Christian
events and
truths,s--all
of these are
themes that
Lazzarelli
must have
particularly
appreci-
ated.
Indeed,
his
main
interest seems from
quite early
on
to have
been
directed towards the
topic
of
transformation,
in
whatever
way
it was
approached.
In
fact,
already
in
his
youth
(long
before his
'conversion
to
Hermeticism' which
followed
his
meeting
with
Giovanni
'Mercurio' da
Correggio
in
1484)',
he wrote the
short
7
C. Crisciani and M. Pereira, L'alchimia nella transizione fra Medioevo e
Rinascimento,
in Storia della
scienza Treccani
(Rome,
forthcoming),
IV,
part
C,
chp.13.1.
8
For
these themes
see Petrus
Bonus,
Pretiosa
Margarita
Novella
(ed.
J.J.
Manget,
Bibliotheca
Chemica
Curiosa,
(Geneva,
1702),
2:1-80),
29-31,
50-54.
9
Lazzarelli
describes the
Hermetic
appearance
of Giovanni
Mercurio and
his
own
reactions
to it
in
the
Epistola
Enoch
(ed.
Brini,
Testi ,
34-50);
cf. also
Kristeller,
Ancora
per ,
256,
for the
incunabulum
and another
manuscript
of the
text;
cf.
Rudeman,
Giovanni
Mercurio.
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148
CHIARACRISCIANI
poem
Bombix,1o
where he set forth and
'concealed',
within the
story
of
the
metamorphosis
of the
silkworm,
palingenetic
ideas on
regeneration
from flesh
to
spiritual perfection. Amongst
other
things,
in
his
main work Crater
Hermetis,
he
describes the creation-
transformation of 'new men'
in
a context that
stresses the conver-
gence,
if
not
equivalence,
of Hermeticism and the Christian
reli-
gion.
The
close
connection
that Bonus had
established
between
alchemical and
Christian
truths and
his
interpretation
that
con-
crete alchemical
changes
embodied
religious
truths
certainly
ap-
peared
to
him
of
great
interest
within
the framework of his
syncretistic approach.12
As for the texts collected
in
the
Vademecum,
ew
explanations
are
needed
in
order to show the reasons for
this
Lullian
choice,
which
was not
only
Lazzarelli's
but,
first and
foremost,
John
Rigaud's
(as
is clear from
the text attributed to
him).
The texts of
pseudo-Lullis
convey
an extension of alchemical
theory,
which is
presented
as
a
real
philosophy
of nature drawn
up
by
alchemist
philosophers,
defined as
filii
Hermetis.
They
also broaden the
scope
of
the im-
provements brought
about
by
the
lapis-elixir,
which acts not
only
on
minerals,
but also
on
vegetable
life and
on
the
body
of
man,
for
whom
it
promotes long
life
and
well-being.
Pseudo-Lull thus
proposes
a
general project
for the transformation
and restoration
of both man and the cosmos which
ranges
from transmutation to
a
universal
therapy.
The
models and aims of
perfection
to which
the
Testamentum
refers
are,
on one
hand,
the
image
of the
perfect
body
of
man as
represented
by
Adam
and,
on the
other
hand,
the
image
of
the
earth taken
back,
through
a
positive apocalypse,
to
the
pure
and immobile
perfection
of the
crystal.
14
In
the
pseudo-
Lullian
corpus
there is also
some account of
special
divine
revelations and of
initiatory
bonds
linking
master
and
disciple.'5
10
Ludovici
Lazzarelli
Septempedanis...Bombix...Joanne
rancisco Lancillottio a
Staphilo
auctore...
Aesi,
1765),
cf.
Brini
Testi ;Garin,
Ermetismo.
For the
complex
situation linked with the
printing
of this
text,
its editions
and interpretations, see the studies quoted above, note 1.
12
A
significant
trace of Lazzarelli's
particular
nterest
in
Bonus can be found
in
De ratione
conficiendi
apidisphilosophici
y
Lorenzo
Ventura
(Basle, 1571),
who
often
quotes
Bonus,
sometimes
in connection with Lazzarelli.
1'
See M. Pereira and B.
Spaggiari,
eds.,
11 'Testamentum'
lchemico
ttribuito
RaimondoLullo
(Florence,
1999);
M.
Pereira,
L'oro
deifilosofi.Saggio
ulle
ideedi un
alchimista
el Trecento
(Spoleto,
1992)
and
Pereira's
many
other studies on
pseudo-
Lullian
alchemy.
14
Testamentum,
254,
170.
15
Cf.,
e.g., ps.-Lullus,
Codicillus
ed.
Manget,
1),
908B. The first
treatise
in the
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THE
CASE
OF
LUDOVICO
LAZZARELLI
149
These
themes are
definitely
not
in
contrast with
Lazzarelli's
characteristic Hermetic
philosophic approach.
2.
The
style
of the Vademecumcollection deserves
a more
in-
depth analysis,
as
also do
the
features
of the
first
anonymous
trea-
tise
(Tractatus
de
Alchimia,
not
attributed to
Lull,
and
attributed in
the Tabula to
Lazzarelli).
The collection consists
purely
of
practi-
cal texts.
These
are
not,
however,
simply
recipes
or
instructions,
but
are,
from
an
epistemological point
of
view,
Practicae,
in
other
words,
practical
directions
incorporating
theories.
Although
I
have
no
definite
proof,
I
am inclined to believe that
these
texts,
in
par-
ticular the Tractatus, the best organized of the collection, are con-
nected
with
the
teachings
of
John
Rigaud.
In
any
case,
the Tractatus
shows
a
highly professional
alchemist,
who
carefully
and
thoroughly presents
technical
expedients
and
ingenious
contrivances
(clearly
the
product
of
his
effective and
innovative
laboratory
work,
as for
instance tests
for
measuring
fire,
devices for
sealing
recipients,
etc.)'6
and who also
pays
careful at-
tention to the
social
repercussions
of
his work.
So,
for
example,
the
author
provides
careful
instructions
regarding
the social
crite-
ria
according
to which the
elixir should be distributed
and admin-
istered.'7
Moreover,
the author
also
interprets
the
religious-
soteriological
nature of the
opus
in
very
concrete
terms: the
alche-
mist should donate a
part
of the
profit
from his work
(deriving
from
transmutation or
therapy)
to the
poor, through
the institu-
tional channels of
the seven
works of
charity
of
the
Christian
pas-
toral.18
Finally,
the text
ends with the
hope
that it
might
be
possi-
ble
to convert the
enemies
of
the Catholic
faith with
the aid of
the
universal
alchemical
remedy.'
Vademecum
refers
briefly
to
these
themes when the author
declares
that,
for
love
of his
disciple,
hoc arcanum Dei
pono
in
manum animae
tuae..
(f.3v).
16
See
especially
ibid.,
ff.
4r-5r.
17
Indeed,
it
should be
applied
in a
different
way
to the rich and
the
poor:
ibid.,
ff.
5v-6r.
18
Ibid. ff.
5r-6r.
19
Ibid.,
f.
8r:
Imo
erit
patriarca
mundi
inmortalis
convertens
omnes
suos
inimicos ad suam fidem
catolicam. The
subject
of
pagan
enemies,
sometimes the
Turks,
is
a
common theme in
alchemical texts of the time:
see,
e.g.,
Cristoforo da
Parigi,
Elucidarius
(ed.
in L.
Zetzner,
Theatrum
Chemicum,
(Strasbourg,
1661),
6:199: with
the
alchemical results
Turcam ex Asia
minore
fugare poteris ;
Antonio
dell'Abbazia,
Revelazione
(Chantilly,
Mus6e
Conde,
ms
419
(919),
ff. 45r-
47),
f.46r:
[...]
potresti
far
longhissima guera
agli
infideli,
e
agiustar
il
loco
dove
il
Signor
nostro
pati
morte
per recuperare
queli
che
perduti
erano ;
f.46v: con
questo
potresti
fare
longhisima
guerra
agli
infideli
e
aquistar
il
loco nel
qual
fo
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150
CHIARA CRISCIANI
The text
proposes,
as do
various other
fifteenth-century
works,
a
definite shift to
the
therapeutic-medical
goals
of
alchemy,
with-
out however
eliminating
the
aim of
transmutation. Here there are
two
remarkable
aspects.
First and
foremost,
the medical elixir
is
interpreted
as
an additive which
has a
special,
attractive
way
of
acting, partially
similar to that
of
theriac. These issues were
widely
debated over
the
same
period
of time also in other
texts both al-
chemical
and
medical
dealing
with
potable
gold,
the fifth
essence,
and
the universal
remedy.20
In the second
place,
the
author
pro-
poses
a
reflection
(that
is
rather
interesting
from
the
epistemologi-
cal point of view) on the possibilities of verifying the transmuta-
tion of
metals and the alchemical
therapy,
and concludes that the
latter is easier to
judge.
Indeed,
the
biological-medical
paradigm
proves
to be
clearly
dominant,
from
a
theoretical
point
of
view,
also
with
respect
to
transmutation.21
Finally,
the
author
of
the
Tractatus also stresses the
contiguous
nature
of
religion
and the
opus.
He finds it both in the aforementioned
charitable acts
which
are
required
from the alchemist
(the
alchemical
remedy,
a
free
and
divine
gift,
should translate into
free
gifts
to
the
poor),
and
also in his
references
to
the
Scriptures.
Thus
the
brief
praise
of
the
preparation
and
incorruptible
nature of
the
lapis
is
expressed
in
terms of the
phases
of
the
Passion and
Resurrection of
Christ,
as
dato
opera
de
Iddio alla nostra salute.
(I
have
transcribed
part
of the texts of
Antonio
in
C.
Crisciani,
Fatichee
promesse
alchemiche,
in
S.
Borutti, ed.,
Me-
moria
scrittura
ellafilosofia, orthcoming).
This
theme
is
particularlyemphasized
in
the
alchemical
text attributed
to Giovanni Mercurio da
Correggio,
De
Quercu
Julii
Pontificis
sive
de
lapide philosophico
(London,
British
Museum,
ms
Harley
4081,
ff.
lr-40r),
e.g.
f.2v:
Ad turcorum
mahomethanorumque
ac
paganorum
omnium
exercitus
atque potentias
sine armatura
et
absque
ulla multorum
militia
ilico
constringendum, fugandum
exterminandumque,
and
f.31r:
Et
vinces
tu
quoque
paganorum
atque
turcorum omnium
turbas: non in virtute
corporis
nec in
armatura
potentiae.
Already
Guilelmus Sedacer
in his
Summa
ed.
P.
Barth61emy,
in
progress)
complains
that
alchemy
is
in
the
hands
of the infidels: this
knowl-
edge
must
be
retrieved,
so
that,
with
it,
Christians
(prologue
to
the
second
book):
[...]
illam terram sanctam
que
longissimis
temporibus
ab infidelibus et
nephandis nacionibus fuit atrociter conculcata et hodiernis temporibus heretice
pretractur,
valeant hostiliter et
viriliter
acquirere
et
possidere
(I
thank
P.
Barth61emy
or this
reference).
20
Cf.
C. Crisciani and
M.
Pereira,
BlackDeath and Golden Remedies: Some
Remarkson
Alchemy
and the
Plague ,
n
A. Paravicini
Bagliani
and F.
Santi,
eds.,
The
Regulation
ofEvil.
Social and Cultural Attitudes
to
Epidemics
in the
Late
Middle
Ages
(Turnhout,
1998),
7-39;
C.Crisciani,
Oro
potabile
tra
alchimia e
medicina:
due
testi in
tempo
di
peste ,
in
Rendiconti
Accademia Nazionale delle Scienze detta
dei
XL,
XXI,II,2 (1997),
83-93.
21
Tractatus,
ff.
5v,
6rv.
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THE CASE OF
LUDOVICO
LAZZARELLI
151
John
Dastin
had
already
done
in his
Visio,
'Arnold'
in
the
Exempla,
and,
in
particular,
Bonus
himself.22
In the text at
hand,
the refer-
ence
to
the
topic
of
lapis/Christ
is
very
brief and hence not
com-
parable
with the extensive treatment of it in the other texts I
have
mentioned.
However,
the few remarks
we find are
sufficient to es-
tablish
a
definite connection between
lapis/Christ
and the
defeat
of
the
enemies
of
the
faith and
thereby
to imbue
these
practical
instructions with an
eschatological tinge.
The Tractatus can
thus
in-
clude
expectations
of
reformatio
and
religious
unification,
topics
which Lazzarelli
also
develops
in his
Crater,
although
he
obviously
bases them philosophically on a thorough knowledge and an
elaborate use of the
Corpus
Hermeticum and of the
Cabala while
inserting
them into the irenic
hopes
for
peace
and
concord
typi-
cal of certain
groups
of Italian
humanists.23
The Vademecum ollection
is
thus
homogeneous
and
well-organ-
ized. It includes some
technical texts and others that
are more
theoretical. The Tractatus
is
anything
but
trivial.
Considering
the
work as a
whole,
we have
here a
very
interesting
collection,
which
is at
the same time
quite
traditional.
It
contains certain
aspects
and
topics
that
are,
generally
speaking,
in
harmony
with
Lazzarelli's
philosophical perspectives,
but is
does
not
appear
to be
even
slightly
influenced
by
the
radically
new ideas Lazzarelli
sets out in
his
prologue,
which
provides
a framework and
introduction to
these texts.
3.
The
prologue opens
with
three
quotations
from
the
Tabula
smaragdina,
the Secretum
ecretorum,
and
Picatrix.24
At
the
beginning
of
the
text,
the
name
of
Hermes,
the
father
of
Theologians,
Magi-
cians and
Alchemists
is
solemnly
evoked.25
He
had
revealed
'uno
22
Ibid.,
f.8r.;
see
Bonus, Pretiosa,
29-30;Johannis
Daustenii Visio,
ed. in
Manget,
2:
324B-326;
ps.
Arnaud de
Villeneuve,
Tractatus
parabolicus,
ed. A.
Calvet
(Texte
et
traduction),
in
Chrysopoeia,
V
(1992-96),
145-171.
23
Cf.
especially
Garin,
Ermetismo;
Bacchelli,
Giovanni
Pico.
24
Lazzarelli
considers Picatrix the
author
of
the Clavis
sapientiae,
which
is usu-
ally attributed to Artefius. It is
impossible
to deal in this
essay
with the
complex
problem
of these
attributions;
suffice it to remember
that
Lazzarelli
may
have
known
both texts
(Picatrix
and
Clavis);
both texts
speak
of
the three
coniunctiones
that
Lazzarelli
uses;
both
have been considered
magical
texts;
whichever
of the
two texts he
uses,
Lazzarelli follows it
only loosely,
for
he does not
quote
either
of
them
faithfully
but elaborates to
a
high degree.
Probably
(even
if
this
question
deserves
a
more
in-depth
treatment)
Lazzarelli
is here
found to
carry
out one of
his habitual textual
interlacements.
25
See
Brini, Testi ,
75-76;
cf. Thomas Norton: Rex
Hermes
quoque
idem
fecit,/
Qui
fuit vir
eruditione
celeberrimus:/
In
quadripartitis
suis
Astrologiae/
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152
CHIARA CRISCIANI
verborum contextu' the
secrets of
theology, magic,
and
alchemy
to his
children
in
the
first
aphorism
of the
Tabula,26
where he
pro-
nounces the
unitary,
circular structure of
reality.
In
the
Secretum,
Lazzarelli
adds,
'Aristotle'
repeats
this
pronouncement
as if
it
were
the
product
of
the
prophecy
of
'pater
noster
Hermogenes.'
How-
ever,
he
continues,
these
secreta
(expressed
in
a
single
sentence
which
is
fundamental
for
alchemists,
magicians,
and
theologians)
are
those
tria
arcana that
Picatrix
defines 'coniunctio
corporis
in
corpore,'
'coniunctio
spiritus
in
corpore,'
and 'coniunctio
spiritus
in
spirito.'27
Note that
the one-three structure is much stressed and
surely intentional: one Pater legitimates three functions; one
contextus f
words
provides
a foundation for
three
sciences;
three
texts are
embraced in a
single
tradition and
by
a
single
basic sen-
tence;
a
single
circular
process
of
coniunctio
(expressed
in
the
Tabula)
arranges
itself
in three more
specified
forms
of
coniunc-
tionesbetween
high
and low.
And
indeed,
following
once
more the
one-three
rhythm
(but
no
longer
the schema
proposed
by
Picatrix
or
in
the Clavis
sapientiae),
Lazzarelli
specifies
that these three
coniunctiones,
which
correspond
to
the
tria
arcana and the
three
sciences,
are
actually
three
modes,
three declinations
of
one
sin-
gle
field,
namely
magic.28
These
three modes are
magia
naturalis,
practiced by
alchemists
in
making
the 'coniunctio carnis
celestis
sive
quintae
essentiae
cum
corpore
terrae
virgineae
et
purificatae'
(the
result of which
is
the
lapis
29);
magia
coelestis,
the coniunctio of
the
spirit
of the
planets
with suitable
corporeal
images
that
pro-
duces
mirabilias3;
and
finally, magia
sacerdotaliset
divina,
which oc-
curs when
the
spirit
of God unites with the
spirit
of
man. All of
Scripture speaks
parabolice
f
this
last kind of
magic,
and
Christ
in
the
Gospels
is
the
principal
master of
it.
Artis medicae
et
huius
Alchymiae,/Nec
non
magiae
naturalis,/Veluti
quattuor
scientiis
in natura
existentibus
[...]
(Crede
mihi
seu
Ordinale,
ed.
Manget,
2:
290).
26
Cf.
Brini,
Testi ,
75:
Quod
est
superius
est sicut
quod
est inferius
et
quod
est inferius est sicut quod est superius ad perpetranda miracula rei unius.
27
See D.
Pingree,
ed.,
Picatrix.
The
Latin
version
of
the
Ghayat
Al-Hakim
(Lon-
don,
1986),
5,
and
Artefii
Liber
qui
Clavis
Maioris
Sapientiae
dicitur
(ed.
Manget,
1),
503A.
I
Brini,
Testi ,
75-76.
29
Note
that one
text of
the
ps.-Lullian
Corpus
(the
Compendium
artis alchimiae)
appears
also
under
the
alternative title
Ars
magica
naturalis;
cf.
Pereira,
The Al-
chemical
Corpus,
69.
30
Lazzarelli does not
intend to deal
with this
because
it is abhorred
by
the
holy
Fathers
(Brini,
Testi ,
76).
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THE
CASE OF LUDOVICO
LAZZARELLI
153
Though
this
prologue really
requires
an extensive
comment,
I
must
confine
myself
here to
a
few considerations.
First and
fore-
most,
I
would like to
point
out
that Lazzarelli chooses not to
refer
specifically
to
the
Corpus
Hermeticum
(which
was
very
well known
to
him),
but instead to
Hermes
and
to a wider and more
compos-
ite Hermetic
tradition,
which
also includes
Alexander,
an
'Aristo-
tle',
Picatrix and
perhaps
the Clavis
sapientie.
In
the second
place,
I
would like
to stress
the
importance
given
to
the Tabula. In
Lazzarelli's
eyes,
this text has
undoubtedly
a technical and
practi-
cal
content,
but at the same time also a
highly
philosophical
rel-
evance. It is a fundamental text with a manifold meaning. 3 Finally,
he
stresses the
affinity
and mutual
permeability,
as
it
were,
that
link the
Christian
religion
with Hermeticism
(the
pivotal
subject
of
the
Crater),
in this
case
by
connecting
Hermes'
Tabula
(the
root)
via a series of
steps
with the
Gospels
(texts
whose most
di-
vine
magic
had
already
been
expressed).
This
prologue
therefore
offers
possible
insights
into the
relationship
between the two
types
of
acquisition
of
perfection,
namely
religious
and
alchemical,
which
could be seen
as
interchangeable
due to the
'single
sen-
tence'
by
which
they
are revealed and established.32
Before
examining
this
possible
opening,
let us
consider
what is
said here
regarding alchemy
as such. The
description
of the
alche-
mists'
magic
(connecting heavenly
flesh or the fifth essence with
the
body
of
virginal
earth)
is
very
general
and
certainly
does
not
describe
specific operations.
It
is
general,
but
in
agreement
with
the indications contained
in
the Tabula
regarding
the
relationship
of mutual
inclusion and circulation between
high
and
low,
heaven
and earth.
Moreover,
although
it
is
general,
it
expresses
a
line of
31
The
polysemic
radicality
of
the Tabula
is
also
emphasized
in the
De
lapide
philosophico
t de auro
potabili
ad summum
pontificem
by
Guglielmo
Fabri de
Die
(mid-fifteenth
century;
Bologna,
Biblioteca
Universitaria,
ms lat. 104
(138),
ff.
245r-253v),
especially
in
the
last
section:
cf.
C.
Crisciani,
From
the
Laboratory
to
the
Library:
Alchemy
according
to
Guglielmo
Fabri ,
in A.
Grafton and
N.
Siraisi,
eds., Natural Particulars:Nature and theDisciplines n RenaissanceEurope(Cam-
bridge,
Mass.,
forthcoming).
Note that references
to
the
Tabula also
appear
in
the
Epistola
Enoch,
Lazzarelli's
description
of the Hermetic
appearance
of
Giovanni
Mercurio
da
Correggio
(Brini,
Testi ,
38,44).
Here,
Lazzarelli
describes
other
experiences
of
transformation,
and in
particular,
his
own
regeneration.
Bonus had
already
closely
linked alchemical doctrines and
operations
with
Christian
truths,
through
textual
comparison, suggesting
that
the
respective
writ-
ings
are
reciprocally
metaphorical
(Pretiosa, 29-30):
see
B.
Obrist,
Les
rapports
d'analogie
entre
philosophie
et
alchimie
medievales ,
in
J-C.
Margolin
and
S.
Matton, eds.,
Alchimie et
philosophie
a'
la Renaissance
(Paris,
1993),
esp.
56-58.
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154
CHIARA
CRISCIANI
doctrine that
undoubtedly
has
Baconian and Lullian
overtones.
In
this
connection,
we
may
refer back to the
'heavenly
corporeal
sub-
stance'
and
'non-heavenly
corporeal
substance' of
Roger
Bacon;
to
the
simple virginal
element at the center of the elementarized
earth of the
Testamentum;
and
to the
correspondence
between
the
first matter and
the
fifth essence
which is
suggested
in
various
ways
by
both authors.33
However,
leaving
aside these
connections
with
alchemical
texts,
I
propose
to
compare
this
passage
on
alchemy
in the Vademecum
with the most
enigmatic
and controversial
passage
in the
Crater,
which concerns the creation of 'new men.'34 This creation is a
divinum
opus,
and
King
Ferdinand
asks
Lazzarelli,
though
without
obtaining
a
reply,
quo
ordine
quave operatione
tantum
opus
perficitur.
These words
have
overtones that
are
operative
and
also
specifically
alchemical.
Moreover,
as
far
as
the
process
of creation
is
concerned,
Lazzarelli uses
Eleazar
of Worms'
commentary
on
the
Sefer
Yezir&a,
here this
subject
is
treated
as a
recipe
for
making
a
Golem,
instructions that are
interpreted
allegorically by
Lazzarelli.
In
any
case,
the
new man must
be created out of 'terra
rubra et
virginea,'
suitably
laid
out and
vivified.
In
this
respect,
I
agree
with
Garin and
Bacchelli35
in
seeing
this not
as an
allegory
of
the
relationship
between master and
disciple,
but as
a
magic
and cabalistic
operation,
which
does
not
give
rise to
a
metaphori-
cal kind
of
generation
of
entities,
but
to a
real,
concrete
genera-
tion,
even
if it
is
not
corporeal.
These concrete entities are
Angeli
vite
soci ,
doubles
projected
by
one's own
soul,
personifications
of
the
'complete
Nature'
(a
significant concept
in
Picatrix),
and fac-
ulties
that have turned into
persons. They help
man,
teach
him
how to
keep
the
soul-body compound
sound and
healthy,
and
send him
prophetic
dreams
and
sapiential
teachings.
This crea-
tion,
which
is
admittedly
practical,
has concrete
results,
and is
S
For these themes see
Pereira, L'oro,
esp.
62-65, 184-85, 191;
see also
her
paper in the present volume. Obviously this generic indication could also be re-
ferred
to more
precise
directions contained
in the texts of
the
Vademecum
see
here,
note
36).
3
Cf.
Ludovici Lazarelli
Septempedanipoetae
christiani
ad
divum Ferdinandum Ar.
Siciliae
regem
de summa hominis
dignitate dialogus qui
inscribitur via Christi et Crater
Hermetis,
d.
in
Moreschini,
Dall'
'Asclepio,
9.1, 259-261;
for the
interpretations
of this 'creation'
cf.
Walker,
Spiritual,
68-72; Garin,
Ermetismo, 9-62;
Bacchelli,
Giovanni
Pico,
75-82.
'5
Bacchelli, 70-75;
83-84
highlights
similar
topics
proposed
by
Giovanni
Alamanno and
Pierleone
da
Spoleto
during
the
same
years.
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THE CASE OF LUDOVICO LAZZARELLI 155
based
on
passages
from the
Corpus
Hermeticum,
cabalistic
texts
and
Picatrix,
is
definitely
not an
alchemical
opus.
However,
I
would like
to
point
out the
contiguity,
at
least as far as the terms and
espe-
cially
the
images
are
concerned,
between the 'terra rubra
virginea'
of the Craterand
the
'corpus
terrae
virgineae
et
purificatae'
men-
tioned in
the
prologue
to the
Vademecum.
There
exists also a
con-
sonance
of
both these
passages
with the
chapter
on vivification
of
the
lapis
in De
investigatione
lapidis
by
pseudo-Lull
(which
is in-
cluded
in
the
collection36),
where alchemists are
taught
to
prepare
a
purified,
white earth
in which
the
operator
should 'animam
seminare' by means of a 'germen spirituale.'
To
sum
up:
Although
we cannot
go
further than this
on the
basis of such faint consonances and
generic
assonances,
we
may
at
least make the
following
assertions:
A)
In
the
Vademecum,
divine
magic
and natural
magic/alchemy
are
definitely
connected be-
cause both are rooted in the first
aphorism
of the Tabula.
B)
In
the
Crater,
especially
if
compared
with the whole
Vademecum,37
e
can
at least
recognize
in the
creation of 'new men'
terms and
im-
ages present
in
alchemical texts
known
to
Lazzarelli.
C)
Lazzarelli's
alchemical
interests
and
readings
are
thus not the
re-
sult of
occasional
curiosity,
but act as
ingredients,
albeit
less
im-
portant
than
his cabalistic
interests,
but nonetheless
specific,
which
are
operative
in the construction of his
highly syncretistic
reper-
toire of
texts,
terms
and,
above
all,
images.
It
is
a
repertoire
that
he
uses
(in
an
often
tightly
interwoven
way)
to elaborate
both his
conception
of Hermetic
magic
in
the
Vademecum,
and
also his
magic-Hermetic
philosophy
and
theology
in the
Crater.
4.
The
problem
of
the
relationship
between the
prologue
and
the texts
of
the Vademecum
and,
more
generally,
of
the
possible
convergence
between alchemical
magic,
sacerdotal
and divine
magic
and also between
religious
perfection
and
alchemical
per-
fection,
which
(as
has been
said)
the
prologue appears
to
consider
interchangeable,
remains
open. 3
Why
do
the new ideas in
the pro-
logue not influence the texts in the collection, either in style or in
content?
Why
does
Lazzarelli
not
fully
develop
the
complemen-
36
Vademecum,
f.
12rv.
3'
This
reading
is at least
possible,
because the
dates
of
the two works
are
close,
as
they
were both written between
1492 and 1495
(the
precise
date is un-
certain).
38
Cf.
above,
pp.
152-153.
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156
CHIARA CRISCIANI
tarity
and
circularity
of
high
and low
pronounced
in
the
aphorism
of the Tabula?
Why
does he not therefore
affirm
that
the
highest
theological magic
(in
the Vademecum nd
in
the
Crater)
s
'alchemy'
(in
other
words,
a concrete transformation of
the
soul-mind),
and
that
alchemy
is the
'theology'
of bodies
(and
in this
case,
really
'what is
above is like what is below' and vice
versa)?
Yet,
in
addition
to what Lazzarelli
sets
out
in the
prologue,
the
alchemical texts
that
he
knew,
notably
'Lull' and
Bonus,
could also allow this inter-
pretation,
even
though
with
some effort. As
I
see
it,
there are two
reasons
why
this
is not the result: one is internal to
Lazzarelli's
philosophical approach; the other is connected with cultural trans-
formations
occurring
around the middle of the
Quattrocento
and
involving
alchemy
no
less
than
the overall
reassessment
of
disci-
plines
and the status of the
practices
of transformation.
The first
point
regards
a
tension not
fully
resolved
in
the
pro-
logue
between a hierarchical and a circular
conception.39
It is true
that,
in the
prologue,
the
concepts
of
circularity
and
interpenetra-
tion
of
'heaven' and 'earth'
are often
repeated;
it
is also true that
each
of the three
types
of
magic proposes
it
in
its own
way,
and
each of them carries out the same
process
of unification of
high
and low and the creative and
wonderful transformations
deriving
from
it.
The three
types
of
'magic'
are thus
structurally homoge-
neous and
corresponding.
However,
it is
also
true
that the three
types
of
magic
belong
to a
hierarchy
of
levels
starting
out from
alchemy
and
ending
in
divine
and
sacerdotalis
magic,
a
hierarchy
in
which
the
interpenetration
of
high
and low is
increasingly
more
refined.
But it
is
precisely
this tension between
circularity
and
hierarchy
that can
help
us to understand
the
relationship
between
the
pro-
logue
and
the
subsequent
texts.
Indeed,
if
one
places
alchemy
on
a
specific rung
of the ladder in
the
unitary
sphere
of
magic
as a
whole,
as Lazzarelli
does,
it is not
necessary
to use the
alchemical
project
and its
operations
to
convey
claims and
programs
that can
be better developed at other levels of magic. Consistently, texts
and
doctrines elaborated
by
a
long
tradition
are
collected
in
the
Vademecum
without
any
modification of their content
or
style.
In-
deed,
it was sufficient to
provide,
in the framework of the
pro-
19
This tension can also be noted
in
the initial
dedicatory
verse,
where Lazza-
relli declares
(Brini,
Testi ,
75)
that
Res
una alterius
gradus
est,
and that
Omniaque
esse unum.
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THE CASE OF LUDOVICO
LAZZARELLI
157
logue,
the foundations and
the
overall
meaning
of what the col-
lected texts
contained.
This
prologue
in fact aimed at
dignifying
natural
magic/alchemy
by setting
it within the
unifying
framework
of
general
magic.
It seems
to
me
that
the
same
special
relationship
between frame-
work
and content
can also
clarify
the
more
general
link
between
Hermeticism
and
alchemy
in
the
Quattrocento.40
We
may
once
more start from the
vantage point
offered
by
the case of
Lazzarelli.
His
Hermetic
approach
to
alchemical
texts
(which
surely
Lazzarelli
had
chosen because
they
were consonant with
his
Hermetic inter-
ests for religiously qualified operative transformations) does not
involve
a
development
of
the
hints
offered
by
those
texts,
or a
treatment
of
them in a
more
explicitly
Hermetic
religious
sense.
For
example,
Lazzarelli does not turn
practical
instructions into
spiritual processes,
nor
does he
accentuate the
allegorical
and
initiatory language
of some
alchemical works he knew.
Therefore,
Lazzarelli's
Hermetic
approach
does not
imply
a
reformulation of
alchemical
terminology,
theories
or
operations.
Rather,
his
intention seems to subsume
completely
traditional
doctrines
in
the framework of
a
high
Hermetic and
philosophical
evaluation of
alchemy
as
a whole. In
this
way,
he carries out a
dignification
of
these doctrines from
without,
leaving
their
content
unchanged.
In other
words,
this means that what in the
Quattrocento
was a
philosophically
consistent,
fully
restored
and
culturally
enhanced
Corpus
(the
Corpus
Hermeticum)
did
not seem
to
be
embodied
in a
necessary
or
favored
way
in
the
alchemical
perspectives
of
the filii
Hermetis ,
who
instead,
since the twelfth
century,
had
actually
embodied the
instances of
transformation
which
the
Hermetic
philosophy
had
entailed
since its
origin.41
Clearly,
the Hermetic framework of
the
Corpus
Hermeticum was
philosophically
more
important
than the
particular, specific
disci-
plines
it
dealt with.
A
similar
interpretation
can also be
applied
to the
relationship
between magic and alchemy, which are now connected in rela-
tively
new
ways.
This
is
particularly
noticeable in
Lazzarelli's
pro-
logue,
but is also
present
in
other coeval
texts.42
In
my
opinion,
a
40
See,
in
general,
S.
Matton,
L'influence de
l'humanisme
sur la
tradition
alchimique,
in
Micrologus
3
(1995),
279-345,
and
the
essays
collected in
Alchimie
et
philosophie
a
la
Renaissance.
4a
See
Crisciani and
Pereira,
Alchimia
nella
transizione ,
sections 5-6.
42
Cf.,
e.g.,
Guglielmo
Fabri,
De
auro
potabile
et de
lapide
philosophorum;
Giovanni
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158
CHIARACRISCIANI
radical
rearrangement
of the sciences
and
practices
of
transforma-
tion is
taking
place
here,
a
rearrangement
which involves
texts,
philosophical
commitments,
programs
for
renovatio,
definitions of
science and
knowledge, styles
of
thinking.
This
rearrangement
entails not the dilation
of the alchemical
project,
but instead its
narrowing
and its
inclusion as a
part-in
fact not
even
its most
important part-of
the overall
project
of
magic,
which
now
ap-
pears
as a
philosophically
structured
and
all-pervasive
perspective.
Obviously,
this
rearrangement
does not exclude
alchemy,
but
attributes to it a different
(and
perhaps
less
important)
role than
the one it had played in medieval culture from the twelfth to the
fourteenth centuries.
Indeed,
during
that
period,
the alchemists'
texts,
theories and laboratories
had
perhaps
been the most
appro-
priate
places
for
proposing
transformations
and vivifications of
matter.
In the
Quattrocento
(and
after
Ficino),
not the alchemi-
cal
laboratory,
but the whole
cosmos was to
be considered
the
place
of
transformation,
animated
by
a
vivifying spirit
and
per-
vaded
by
influences that could
be
governed according
to the
rules
of the
Natura
maga
43
and
by
the
spiritual power
of
the
sage.
The
sage
could choose various
paths
and different
operations
(the
ef-
ficacy
of
music,
the
force of
images
and
talismans,
the
power
of
words)
both to
perfect
himself and to achieve wonderful transfor-
mations in nature. It is no coincidence that Ficino and Pico-to
give
two
examples
whose connection
with Lazzarelli
is
docu-
mented-paid
little,
occasional,
or no attention
to
alchemy
as
such.
They obviously
had no need to
link
their theories
of
trans-
formation to
alchemical
practices.
But
precisely
because
Lazzarelli
was
highly
interested
in
alchemy,
he
inaugurated
and
rendered
explicit
this
kind of
inclusion
of
alchemy
in
the vast
theoretical
and
practical
fields
of
the new
magic.
At
the same
time,
he con-
fined
alchemy
to a lower
level
of
magic, namely
to the one that
actually
involved a reduction
of
the
philosophical
and
operative
vitality
and richness
of
the
alchemical trends of the
late Middle
Ages.
Mercurio da
Correggio,
De
QuercuJulii
ontificis
ive de
lapidephilosophico;
ntonio
dell'Abazia,
Revelatione....
The connection between
magic
and
alchemy
in
the
Middle
Ages
is
quite
rare and
is
mainly
expressed
in
criticism
expressed
by
non-
alchemists: in
any
case,
it takes
quite
different
forms
(see
the
positions
of Albert
the Great
and
Roger
Bacon).
11
See
A.
Tarabochia
Canavero,
Tra
ermetismo e
neoplatonismo:
l'immagine
della
'Natura
maga'
in Marsilio
Ficino ,
in
Neoplatonisme
t
philosophie
mediivale:
Actes
Colloque
nt.
SIEPM
Turnhout,
1997),
273-290.
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THE
CASE
OF LUDOVICO
LAZZARELLI
159
The
definite decline
in
theoretical commitments and
the
start
of
a
syncretistic
popularization
which one
may
observe in the al-
chemical texts
of
the
Quattrocento,
are
perhaps
also
due to these
profound changes
in
the
philosophical
culture
of
that
century.
With
the
progression
of
time,
we
may
observe the conversion of
alchemy
into
a
relatively
static esoteric tradition which
was acti-
vated
metaphorically
for
religious
and
erudite
aims,
and
also the
fragmentation
of its remains and their
redistribution
into
diffe-
rent
fields,
notably
into a new
metallurgy,
a
new
pharmacology,
and into
the
'science
of
secrets,'
the
new reservoir
of
operative
knowledge, of recipes, promises, and arcana.
SUMMARY
This
paper
examines the
alchemical
interests of
Ludovico
Lazzarelli
(1450-1500)
and of some
alchemical
texts
connected with his
name,
analyzing
them within the context of
Lazzarelli's
Hermetic
philosophical
position.
Beginning
with an
analysis
of
the
specific
relationship
between
alchemy
and
Hermeticism
expressed by
Lazzarelli,
his
paper
proposes
for
discussion
some
general
hypotheses
on
the link
between
alchemy
and
Hermeticism and between
alchemy
and
magic
in
the
Quattrocento.
44
Cf.
W.
Eamon,
Science nd the Secrets
of
Nature
(Princeton, 1994)
and his
pa-
per
in the
present
volume.