Sergei Zotov
Research Interests
History of science / History of alchemy / History of magic / Medieval studies / Early modern Studies / Visual history / European art / Iconography
Biography
Sergei Zotov began his academic journey studying German Philology and Literature, which sparked his interest in the history of science. He earned his MA in Cultural Studies at RSUH, Moscow, where he focused on Alexandrian and Renaissance alchemical texts. Following this, Sergei worked four years at the Herzog August Bibliothek Wolfenbüttel on a project dedicated to early modern alchemical imagery. During this period, he authored and co-authored five books on iconography, two of which received prestigious awards. Previously, Sergei was an Early Career Fellow at the Institute of Advanced Study, University of Warwick, and has held short-term fellowships at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Humboldt University in Berlin, and Research Centre in Gotha.
Research
As a PhD student at the University of Warwick, Sergei studied allegorical images in Renaissance alchemical treatises, exploring their visual evolution and medieval roots. He is currently preparing to turn his dissertation into a book. His new project at the Warburg Institute examines early modern illustrated manuscripts that merge alchemy and magic — challenging the prevailing view that these disciplines were unrelated. By investigating their interplay, Sergei seeks to illuminate the transformative connections between early modern alchemy and other fields of knowledge.
Recent publications
Smelling Good While Conjuring the Spirits. Use of ‘Perfumes’ in Medieval and Early Modern Magic Books, in Stefan Laube (ed.), Material, Visual, and Practical Dimensions of Early Modern How-to Books (Leiden: Brill, 2024), pp. 237—268.
Merian’s Juggling with Motifs – Juggling with Merian’s Motifs. Iconographical Borrowings in and from Merian’s Alchemical Works, in Berit Wagner and Corinna Gannon (eds.), Opus magnum. Matthäus Merian d.Ä. und die Bebilderung der Alchemie (Heidelberg: ART-Books, 2024), pp. 219—233.
Allegorical Iconography of Alchemical Furnaces in 16th and 17th Century Manuscripts, in Sarah Lang (ed.), Alchemical Laboratories (Graz: University Library Publishing, 2023), pp. 285–295.