This artwork was based on the Magnum Opus, the Alchemical process of transforming the lead into gold, or, the negative into positive.
According to the Alchemy this process consists in 4 stages - See below:
Nigredo: putrefaction or decomposition - all alchemical ingredients have to be cleansed and cooked extensively to a uniform black matter.
Albedo: "whiteness". Following the chaos or massa confusa of the nigredo stage, the alchemist undertakes a purification in albedo – the washing away of impurities.
Citrinitas: "yellowness" - the transmutation of silver into gold
Rubedo: "redness" - the fourth and final major stage--the alchemical success, and the end of the great work. Rubedo can be interpreted as achieving enlightened consciousness and the total fusion of spirit and matter.
Albedo: "whiteness". Following the chaos or massa confusa of the nigredo stage, the alchemist undertakes a purification in albedo – the washing away of impurities.
Rubedo: "redness" - the fourth and final major stage--the alchemical success, and the end of the great work. Rubedo can be interpreted as achieving enlightened consciousness and the total fusion of spirit and matter.