María Pandiello Fernández

Alchemy is a complex and chameleonic discipline; throughout its long historical journey, it has adapted to various cultural contexts and transformed its language and visual appearance. In this talk, we will define the shifting contours of alchemy and observe its transformations during a historical period that spans from the 15th to the 19th century. Through the images in its manuscripts and printed books, we will view alchemy as a living organism that traverses different periods in modern Europe. This will be a visionary experience where we will witness its moments of fullness, but also its moments of crisis, persecution and opportunism; we will see it aligning with other disciplines and being expelled from academic cycles. The visual alchemical legacy will not only allow us to understand the fluctuations of the discipline itself but will also provide us with insight into some of its most intriguing symbols.

María Pandiello (born in Donostia, Spain, 1981) holds a degree in Romance Philology and a doctorate in Art History. Her field of study centers on manuscripts and printed books from the 15th and 16th centuries. Through the beautiful and often intriguing images found in these books, Pandiello studies the spiritual, cultural, and artistic currents of the time, as well as their fluctuations, dialogues, encounters, disagreements, and metamorphoses throughout history. With a keen interest in the chameleonic nature of symbols and the relationship between power and image, Pandiello has published numerous academic articles and contributed to collective volumes. Her research has also received several awards and special mentions. However, popularizing knowledge is a path that Pandiello has pursued with great interest and dedication. In this regard, it’s worth highlighting the publication of her latest book “Visions of Fire” (La Felguera, 2022), where Pandiello unravels the seemingly impenetrable keys of alchemical visual language, revealing a fascinating hermetic, poetic, and allegorical world, filled with codes, symbols, and visual traps.