Alchemical mercury : a theory of ambivalence

230 Pages·2010·1.404 MB·English

by  Pinkus, Karen

Gerard ter Borch, The Consultation, 1635. Photo: Joerg P. Anders. Gemaeldegalerie,
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany. Photo credit: Bildarchiv Preussischer
Kulturbesitz/Art Resource, NY.
Jacques-Louis David, Portrait of Lavoisier and his Wife, 1788. Oil on canvas, 102 1⁄4×76 5⁄8
in. (259.7×194.6 cm). Purchase, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Wrightsman Gift, in honor of
Everett Fahy, 1977 (1977.1). Art, New York, NY, U.S.A. Photo credit: Image copyright ©
The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Art Resource, NY (ART322961).
Alchemical Mercury
A Theory of Ambivalence
Karen Pinkus
Stanford
University
Press
Stanford,
California
Stanford University Press
Stanford, California
© 2010 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Ju nior
University. All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying
and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system
without the prior written permission of Stanford University Press.
Printed in the United States of America on acid- free,
archival- quality paper
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Pinkus, Karen.
Alchemical mercury : a theory of ambivalence / Karen Pinkus.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978- 0- 8047- 6032- 4 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Alchemy in literature. 2. Alchemy in art. 3. Ambivalence.
4. Rhetoric. I. Title.
PN56.A44P56 2010
700'.47—dc22 2008053119
Typeset by Westchester Book Ser vices in 10.9/13 Adobe Garamond
Contents
List of Figures vii
Ac know ledg ments ix
Introduction: Lead into Gold 1
§ 1 Visibilia 31
Excursus: Ambivalence 55
§ 2 Chemical Nuptials 66
Excursus: Mercury 84
§ 3 A Chemical Couple 90
§ 4 Rumpelstiltskin 104
§ 5 The Sandman 115
Excursus: Counterfeiting 137
§ 6 Reading Capital IAlchemically 141
§ 7 Digital Gold 158
Notes 175
Bibliography 199
Index 211

Figures
1. Belvedere vodka advertisement, ca. 2002 2
2. Footless Manfrom Michael Maier,
Atalanta fugiens, 1617 6
3. Gerard ter Borch, The Consultation, 1635 33
4. Philippe Gallé, The Alchemist, 1558. Etching,
after a drawing by Pieter Brueghel the Elder. 36
5. Title page, Gerard de Lairesse, Het groot
schilderboek, 1704 39
6. Rembrandt, A Scholar in His Study, ca. 1652 41
7. Albrecht Dürer, Melancholia, 1514 42
8. Albrecht Dürer, St. Jerome in His Study, 1514 43
9. Gerrit Dou, The Quack Doctor, 1652. 45
10. Filippo Lippi, Annunciation and Predella
with Scenes from the Life of Saint Nicholas
(attributed to Pesellino), 1440 47
11. Hendrick Heerschop, The Alchemist’s Experiment
Takes Fire, 1687 51
12. Like the Hermaphrodite, the Rebis Is Born of Two
Mountains, of Mercury and Venus, from Michael Maier,
Atalanta fugiens, 1617 57
13. Arnald of Villanova: The Stone Is Obtained from
the Marriage of Gabritius and Beia, from Michael
Maier, Symbola aureae mensae duodecim
nationem, 1617 73
vii
viii List of Figures
14. Frontispiece from Michael Maier, Lusus serius,
quo Hermes sive Mercurius Rex Mundanorum
Omnium sub homine existentium (1616) 85
15. Jacques- Louis David, Portrait of Lavoisier
and His Wife, 1788 91
16. David Ryckaert, Scholar with Homunculus in
Glass Phial, seventeenth century 94
17. Gordon Matta- Clark, Agar, 131 Chrystie St., 1969 161
18. Gilberto Zorio, Crucible (To Purify Words), 1982 164
Ac know ledg ments
Generous support from the University of Southern California College
deans, the Early Modern Studies Institute at USC, and the Borchard Foun-
dation made this book possible. My heartfelt thanks to the many libraries
and collections where I researched, including the Biblioteca Philosophica
Hermetica (Amsterdam), the Warburg Institute Library (London), The
Huntington (San Marino), and the Getty Research Institute (Los Angeles),
where David Brafman, in part icu l ar, shared his expertise. Colleagues at Cor-
nell, University of Colorado, University of Oregon, University of Sussex,
and USC asked challenging questions when I presented work in progress.
Paolo Matteucci served as my research assistant, funded by a USC Provost’s
Strategic Theme Fellowship. Without his help this book might never have
seen the light. Cecilia Boggio and Carolyn O’Neill also researched in the
project’s early stages. The students in my seminar on alchemy in Fall 2007
gave me ideas and energy. My parents took me to the Metropolitan Museum
of Art so often that David’s portrait of Lavoisier was imprinted in my brain
and I c ouldn’t help but write about it. Jane Winston and Sharon Achinstein
read Marx with me. Francesco Adinolfi, Cristina Bartoccioli, Anna Camaiti,
Roberto Diaz, Gabriel Giorgi, Maurizio Giuffredi, Bob Kaufman, Panivong
Norindr, Sabrina Ovan, Tommaso Pomilio, John David Rhodes, Joy Slee-
man, Peter Starr, and Bernard Yenelouis provided unconditional support and
friendship. Orlando Bentancor, Richard Block, Tom Conley, Margie Fergu-
son, Peggy Kamuf, Natania Meeker, and Hilary Schor read all or parts of the
manuscript and gave me amazing advice. I owe them jumbo loans, taken
out, at times, on lousy credit.
ix