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This print is the second in a series of ten prints produced on alchemy, produced by Beccafumi. Alchemy was an early form of chemistry designed to discover a means to transform one material into another such as base metals into gold. This image describes the ancient identification of seven planets with seven metals. The alchemist and his cloaked assistant approach the figures from the right. Standing at the top of the group, Luna symbolizes silver, Mars symbolizes iron below her on the left and Mercury symbolizes quicksilver on the right. Below them, in the shadows, Sol on the left represents gold and Jupiter on the right represents zinc. At the bottom of the picture are Venus, holding her dove, symbolizing copper and Saturn, holding his sickle. symbolizing lead.

In the next prints in the series, the metals are captured and transformed into bronze. Weapons are made with the bronze but the damage they cause forces the alchemist to conclude that the experiment is too destructive so the furnace used to create the weapons is destroyed. The moral in this story explains the title of the print. An allegory is a story in which characters and events represent something else that carries a deeper meaning.

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