Alchemy, Rosicrucianism, Renaissance hermeticism

Michael Maier

1568 – 1622

Michael Maier was a German physician and Imperial counsellor to Rudolf II who became one of the foremost alchemical writers of the early seventeenth century. His emblem book Atalanta Fugiens (1617), combining fifty alchemical engravings with original fugues, stands as one of the most sophisticated works of alchemical literature. He was also a leading apologist for the Rosicrucian movement, defending the Brotherhood in works such as Themis Aurea.