Facing a glowing furnace at left, a bearded alchemist in green with a red cap looks at a flask of green liquid. A young assistant in a red singlet stands to his right. Laboratory apparatus is seen in foreground and background, and a pufferfish hangs from the ceiling. Two doves perch on the open window through which a view of a castle atop a mountain is seen.

This lustrous painting was created by Newell Convers Wyeth (1882-1945), an American artist and illustrator. Wyeth was a realist painter at a time when the camera and photography began to compete with his craft. During his lifetime, Wyeth created more than 3,000 paintings and illustrated 112 books.