A bearded alchemist squints closely at his experiment as he tends a small fire with a pair of hand-bellows. Beside him, his young assistant looks on. This busy and productive workroom also houses a pair of assistants who work with mortar and pestle at a table to the rear of the room. Glass distillation vessels, flasks, and books lie scattered on the floor, and a print has been pinned against the far wall, close to a suspended taxidermied fish specimen hung above.