Michael Maier’s Atalanta Fugiens (1618)
Earth as Nurse in Atalanta Fugiens
The second emblem of Atalanta Fugiens gives earth the body of a nursing woman, with continents drawn across her rounded torso. An infant feeds at her breast, and animal nursing scenes occupy either side of the landscape. The accompanying epigram names Romulus and Jupiter before invoking earth’s nourishment. The following discourse opens with a discussion of nourishment and assimilation, then draws a comparison with the philosophers’ work. These are Maier’s historical analogies, recorded here in their local textual setting rather than assigned to a named goddess or presented as current physiology.
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In the sources
Earth is explicitly the nurse
DocumentedThe motto identifies earth as nurse and the engraving gives that relation a human form.
The discourse begins with nourishment
DocumentedThe next page discusses the nourishing substance becoming like the nourished, then compares natural generation with the philosophers’ work.
Context & interpretation
This entry follows Michael Maier’s Latin and German Atalanta Fugiens in the scanned edition dated 1618. Statements are attributed to that historical emblem book. The source links identify the actual image, music or prose page; the interpretation is editorial.
Original passages
Source 1
Atalanta Fugiens
Nutrix ejus terra estOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Emblema II, printed p. 17, motto and image
Actual checksum-verified public Reader scan inspected. Short quotation transcribed from the page, with long s, line breaks and spacing normalised.
- Edition
- IMJ-0287-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0287-E001-P0018
- Original scan leaf
- 25
- Recorded leaf number
- 25
- Current Reader position
- 18
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Source 2
Atalanta Fugiens
Nutriens vertatur in substantiam nutritiOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Discursus II, printed p. 18, opening discussion
Actual checksum-verified public Reader scan inspected. Short quotation transcribed from the page, with long s, line breaks and spacing normalised.
- Edition
- IMJ-0287-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0287-E001-P0019
- Original scan leaf
- 26
- Recorded leaf number
- 26
- Current Reader position
- 19
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
