An alchemist at work in a vaulted room, with a woman seated by a cradle

Now almost forgotten, the Haarlem painter Thomas Wijck was a famous artist in his own time, producing a wide range of subjects including Mediterranean harbour scenes, marines, town views and alchemists. He is said to have travelled to Italy and especially to Naples where he might have been inspired by the art of Salvator Rosa, who also frequently depicted alchemists at work. Wijck depicts these figures in typical Haarlem surroundings, for which he must have been influenced by his fellow citizen Adriaen van Ostade. As pointed out by J. Read, The Alchemist in Life, Literature and Art, 1947, p.82, Wijck's alchemists are scholars rather than practical workers, always surrounded by piles of books, globes, birdcages near the window and alligators hanging from the ceiling. Contrary to the majority of Wijck's alchemists, in the present picture the window is placed in the background, parallel to the picture plane; the light therefore enters the room from behind creating a chiaroscuro effect.