The Splendor Solis ("Splendour of the Sun") is one of the most visually magnificent alchemical manuscripts of the Renaissance. Attributed to Salomon Trismosin, a legendary figure said to have been the teacher of Paracelsus, the work is probably pseudonymous, with its earliest manuscripts dating from around 1532-1535. The most celebrated copy is the illuminated manuscript held by the British Library (Harley MS 3469), produced in the sixteenth century with twenty-two full-page miniatures of extraordinary artistic quality. A printed edition appeared at Rorschach in 1598. The treatise presents the stages of the alchemical work through a sequence of richly symbolic images accompanied by explanatory text, making it one of the premier illustrated alchemical works of its era.

The Splendor Solis organizes the alchemical opus as a visual narrative of transformation. Its miniatures depict the stages of the work through a sequence of flasks containing increasingly refined substances, set within elaborate Renaissance architectural frames. The seven "flasks" series shows the matter passing through the color stages of the opus: black (nigredo), white (albedo), and red (rubedo). Flanking these are images of the king's dismemberment and reconstitution, the philosopher in his laboratory, and symbolic figures that encode the stages of purification and perfection. The work draws heavily on the Rosarium Philosophorum tradition, extending and elaborating its visual vocabulary with the artistic resources of High Renaissance painting.

Maier's Atalanta Fugiens shows affinities with the Splendor Solis in both visual motifs and thematic structure. De Jong notes a specific parallel: the motif of the sea-king swimming in the sea with arms outstretched in Emblem XXXI also appears in one of the pictures in the Splendor Solis (De Jong, p. 225). Szulakowska argues more broadly that the Splendor Solis may have provided visual prototypes for Maier's engravings, particularly in the architectural and landscape settings. She traces a connection between the Seventh Parable's image of an ancient king in an alchemical bath and the outdoor setting of Maier's Emblem VIII (Szulakowska, Alchemy of Light, p. 161). The king-in-the-bath motif connects both works to the Emblem XXVIII tradition of King Duenech's steam bath.

Szulakowska identifies the Splendor Solis as a crucial intermediary between the medieval Rosarium Philosophorum and the Rosicrucian-era emblem books of which Maier's Atalanta Fugiens is the masterpiece. She cites Adam McLean's observation that the Splendor Solis "acts as a bridge between the Rosarium and the Rosicrucian period" (Szulakowska, Alchemy of Light, p. 161). Tilton connects the Splendor Solis to Maier's discussion in the Symbola Aureae Mensae of a mysterious beast called Ortus, whose red head, white feet, and black eyes recall the humanoid figure with colored body parts emerging from a swamp in the fourth parable of the Splendor Solis (Tilton, pp. 226-227). Both images encode the progressive perfection of the alchemical substance through the color stages of the opus.

De Jong's primary focus is on the textual sources of the Atalanta Fugiens, and she notes the Rosarium Philosophorum rather than the Splendor Solis as Maier's major source. However, the visual parallels between the two works are significant for understanding Maier's relationship to the tradition of alchemical illustration. The Splendor Solis demonstrated that the alchemical opus could be communicated through images of extraordinary beauty and complexity; Maier took this principle further by adding the dimensions of music and typographic design.

The Splendor Solis and the Atalanta Fugiens share a fundamental conviction: that alchemical knowledge is not merely propositional but experiential. The illuminated miniatures of the Splendor Solis were designed to be contemplated, their rich colors and intricate compositions inviting prolonged visual meditation. Maier's emblems extend this contemplative pedagogy by engaging ear as well as eye. Both works treat the alchemical opus as an aesthetic experience, a serious game in which beauty serves as the vehicle for understanding.