# Name this... woodcut **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 24, 2001, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-woodcut/59282 "2001-03-24T04:55:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2001, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-woodcut/59282/1 "2001-03-24T04:55:37Z")
It’s a woodcut/engraving picture of an alchemist creating a homunculus. The one place I saw it before was talking about the Faust legend. However, the caption did not cite a title, an artist’s name, or what book the picture was originally from. (Might not even have necessarily been from any book about Faust.) The only picture credit in the book where I saw it was “Bettmann Archive”. I searched every conceivable variation of the words Faust, Faustus, homunculus, alchemy, Paracelsus, woodcut, classic illustration, and Bettmann Archive. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2001, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-woodcut/59282/2 "2001-03-24T05:36:52Z")
Try [here.](http://www.levity.com/alchemy/images_s.html) Lots of pictures for you to sort through. ---
**Author:** ![Yersinia\_Pestis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ccd318/32.png) [@Yersinia\_Pestis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yersinia_Pestis)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2001, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-woodcut/59282/3 "2001-03-25T19:06:36Z")
Okay, this is my first post so patience please if I screw something up. The Bettman Archive is now the Corbis Corporation and is owned by Microsoft (erk). They have a website at [http://www.corbis.com](http://www.corbis.com) and clicking on shopping will let you search for images. Only 2.1 million of their 65 million (double erk) images are online, but by searching for alchemy I found a few woodcuts and engravings. Dunno if one of these is what you’re after. Alchemy: [http://store.corbis.com/search/productsearch.asp?sc=&search=alchemy&hidKeywordSearch=&hidSearchCategory=0&pf=&navid=&hidIsNewSearch=TRUE](http://store.corbis.com/search/productsearch.asp?sc=&search=alchemy&hidKeywordSearch=&hidSearchCategory=0&pf=&navid=&hidIsNewSearch=TRUE) ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-woodcut/59282/4 "2012-07-10T17:15:48Z")
I finally found the damn picture. The trick was that it wasn’t Faust but his assistant Wagner (not the muscian) in the picture: [http://rpmedia.ask.com/ts?u=/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/17/Faust\_image\_19thcentury.jpg/140px-Faust\_image\_19thcentury.jpg](http://rpmedia.ask.com/ts?u=/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/17/Faust_image_19thcentury.jpg/140px-Faust_image_19thcentury.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-woodcut/59282/5 "2012-07-10T17:23:09Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > I finally found the damn picture. The trick was that it wasn’t Faust but his assistant Wagner (not the muscian) in the picture: > [http://rpmedia.ask.com/ts?u=/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/17/Faust\_image\_19thcentury.jpg/140px-Faust\_image\_19thcentury.jpg](http://rpmedia.ask.com/ts?u=/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/17/Faust_image_19thcentury.jpg/140px-Faust_image_19thcentury.jpg) I hope you never have a grudge with me… Eleven years! ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-woodcut/59282/6 "2012-07-10T17:30:59Z")
How did it feel to scratch that 11-year itch? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-woodcut/59282/7 "2012-07-10T17:58:41Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > I finally found the damn picture. The trick was that it wasn’t Faust but his assistant Wagner (not the muscian) in the picture: > [http://rpmedia.ask.com/ts?u=/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/17/Faust\_image\_19thcentury.jpg/140px-Faust\_image\_19thcentury.jpg](http://rpmedia.ask.com/ts?u=/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/17/Faust_image_19thcentury.jpg/140px-Faust_image_19thcentury.jpg) That is one weird picture. Wagner has a weird little smirk on his face, and it looks like he’s happy to be distilling a baby. Maybe he’s trying to make baby oil. (Yes, I kniow it’s _homunculus_. It still looks too chubby, like a baby.) ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-woodcut/59282/8 "2012-07-10T18:21:14Z")
> [@Kenm](#): > > How did it feel to scratch that 11-year itch? Like a Klingon tearing his worst enemy’s head off. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-woodcut/59282/9 "2012-07-10T21:15:58Z")
I just wanted to say I love this image. Thank you for sharing it with us. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-woodcut/59282/10 "2012-07-10T21:18:15Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > I just wanted to say I love this image. Thank you for sharing it with us. If you remember the _ **Dark Angel** _ TV show, I imagine Max having it on the wall of her apartment. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2012, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-woodcut/59282/11 "2012-07-11T06:37:59Z")
Man, Ebenezer Scrooge had some fucked-up hobbies. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2015, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-woodcut/59282/12 "2015-09-09T03:08:30Z")
Old picture link no good- here’s the new one: [![](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Faust_illustrations#/media/File:Homunculus_Faust.jpg) ](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Faust_illustrations#/media/File:Homunculus_Faust.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2015, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-woodcut/59282/13 "2015-09-09T05:19:21Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Old picture link no good- here’s the new one: > > [Faust illustrations - Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Faust_illustrations#/media/File:Homunculus_Faust.jpg) Not sure if that link is any good either – it re-directs me to a search page on Faust images. Try [this one](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Faust_image_19thcentury.jpg), from [this Wiki page](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homunculus). (Don’t know if this is the same pic as OP’s long-lost link. And it doesn’t clearly identify if the alchemist in the photo is supposed to be Wagner; only that it illustrates a scene from Faust. But the guy certainly has a satisfied look on his face.) ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2015, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-woodcut/59282/14 "2015-09-09T08:05:40Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Not sure if that link is any good either – it re-directs me to a search page on Faust images. > > Try [this one](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Faust_image_19thcentury.jpg), from [this Wiki page](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homunculus). (Don’t know if this is the same pic as OP’s long-lost link. And it doesn’t clearly identify if the alchemist in the photo is supposed to be Wagner; only that it illustrates a scene from Faust. But the guy certainly has a satisfied look on his face.) Lumpy’s link works for me.