3D scan of a bearded man wearing a belt set with rubies. The coiled, crowned serpent symbolises the ruby as a dracontia (dragon stone), heroically extracted from the wild. Held aloft in triumph, it also represents the Philosopher’s Stone – the ultimate goal of all knowledge. The vial for elixir symbolises the healing properties attributed to this stone. The figure was created by Rudolf Weyr (1847-1914) and is part of the decorative program in Hall IV of the Natural History Museum. **Object**: Ruby – Dragon Stone **Collection**: Natural History Museum Vienna (contact: Stefanie Jovanović-Kruspel) Find out more about the NHMW [here](http://www.nhm-wien.ac.at/en) Scanned and edited by Anna Haider (NHMW) Scanner: Artec Leo Contribution to the digitization project „Einsichten in die gesellschaftspolitische Dimension des NHMW über die Jahrhunderte von der Prägung des Wissenschafts-Verständnisses bis zum Nationalpark in der Lobau“ funded by the [BMWKMS](https://www.bmwkms.gv.at/).