The Peacock Stage (detail), Jörg Breu the Elder (attributed), ca. 1531–1532 The Peacock Stage
Attributed to Jörg Breu the Elder (German, ca. 1475–1537)
From Salomon Trismosin, Splendor solis (Nuremberg or Augsburg, ca. 1531–1532), fol. 28r
Lent by Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett

In Classical mythology, Mercury created the peacock when he slew Juno's 100-eyed guardian Argus. Alchemists sought to recreate the iridescence of the bird's feathers in the laboratory. They also speculated that the hard flesh of the peacock was resistant to decay and an antidote to poisons.