Chemical analysis of fragments of glass and ceramic ware from Tycho Brahe’s laboratory at Uraniborg on the island of Ven (Sweden)

Abstract

In addition to his astronomical observations the famous Renaissance astronomer Tycho Brahe (1546–1601) was known also for his interest in alchemy. He equipped his castle Uraniborg on the island of Ven with a state-of-the-art alchemical laboratory when it was erected around 1580. After Brahe’s death Uraniborg was demolished upon a royal decree from 1601, a process which was completed around 1650. In the present study we have analysed four glass shards and one ceramic shard most likely from the alchemical laboratory and retrieved during an archaeological excavation in 1988–90. Cross sections of the shards have been analysed for 31 trace elements by Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma with Mass Spectrometry with the aim of detecting any traces of the chemical substances on the inside or outside of the shards used in the laboratory. Four of the elements found in excess on the exterior surfaces of the shards, Cu, Sb, Au, and Hg, are in accordance with the reconstructed recipes of the three Paracelsian medicines for which Brahe was famous—Medicamenta tria. This is the first experimental data casting light on the alchemical experiments that took place at Uraniborg 1580–1599.