Behind The Art: Philosopher's Stone

Séverine Pineaux is a French Illustrator, painter and designer.

After her beginnings in fantasy illustration, she specialized in magical representations where trees mingle with creatures and men.

Her Ysambre series, composed of two volumes, "Le monde-arbre" and "La femme-graine", won an award at the Printemps des Légendes de Monthermé.

It is from her Ysambre works that Severine drew the inspiration for her beautiful art composition of "Philosopher's Stone".

The legend of the philosopher's stone traces back an era from the Middle Ages to the late 17th century. At the time, it was the most sought-after goal in the world of alchemy.

The philosopher's stone was a substance that could turn ordinary metals such as iron, tin, lead, zinc, nickel or copper into precious metals such as gold and silver.

Alchemists also believed that it was an elixir of life, with the power to cure illness, restore youth, and grant immortality to those who possessed it.

Sometimes depicted as a stone, some believed it was not a stone at all; but rather a powder or other form of substance sometimes called "the tincture", "the powder", or "materia prima".

Extensive studies by alchemists exploring countless substances in their laboratories resulted in the formation of a base of knowledge that would span the fields of chemistry, pharmacology, and metallurgy; thus having a profound impacts in the scientific field.