Michael Maier compares a piece of red coral with a drawing on his worktable.

What coral teaches the alchemist

Michael Maier (1568–1622) was a German physician, alchemist and composer. His Atalanta fugiens invites the reader to follow a thought in words, in a picture and in music. Emblem 32 leads to the edge of the water, where a man reaches for a piece of coral.[1]

Between water and air

The engraving catches the man’s hand just above the surface. At precisely this boundary Maier imagines a change taking place. Below the water the coral grows. In the air it hardens. Someone holding the finished red branch must imagine the successive stages that gave it its form.[1]

As coral grows under water and hardens in the air, so does the stone.[1]

A stone in the making

The Latin word for stone, lapis, comes at the very end of the motto. Only then does the comparison disclose its subject. The alchemist seeks a substance that passes through different states. Coral offers a memorable picture of how closely the work depends on a change of surroundings. It also preserves an early modern belief about coral itself.[1]