10 + 5 + 6 + 5 = 26. In this manner a verse of the Bible
containing exactly 26 syllables would be taken by the Re-
naissance magician as being of special significance.
Less mechanical systems of magic emerged from the
work of the Neoplatonists FICINOand PICO DELLA MIRAN-
DOLA. Extracted in part from the Corpus hermeticum (see
HERMETICISM) and the Jewish CABBALA, they sought to
identify harmonies and resonances in the universe rather
than cast spells or design amulets. From the early 17th
century, however, all such traditions began to be chal-
lenged. KEPLERin his Harmonices mundi (1619), for exam-
ple, and Marin Mersenne in his Quaestiones in genesim
(1623), began the process of critical appraisal which
thereafter inexorably assigned magic a more peripheral
role in intellectual history.
See also: WITCHCRAFT
Further reading: Ioan P. Culiany, Eros and Magic in the
Renaissance, transl. Margaret Cook (Chicago, Ill.: Univer-
sity of Chicago Press, 1987); William Monter, Ritual, Myth
and Magic in Early Modern Europe (Athens, Ohio: Ohio
University Press, 1980); Keith Thomas, Religion and The
Decline of Magic (London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1971);
Brian Vickers (ed.) Occult and Scientific Mentalities in the
Renaissance (Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University
Press, 1984); Daniel P. Walker, Spiritual and Demonic
Magic from Ficino to Campanella (London: Warburg Insti-
tute, 1958; Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame
Press, 1975).
magus As seen by Renaissance scholars, a man in posses-
sion of powerful esoteric knowledge gained from certain
secret texts or from another noted magus. His initiation
might involve various rites of purification and entailed a
code of behavior of which fasting and sexual abstinence
would be the most obvious features. The knowledge
gained by the magus in this way was thought to give him
power over nature. It could be exercised, as by John DEE,
through the conjuring of demons, or, following Cornelius
AGRIPPA, through the manipulation of occult sympathies,
celestial influences, and numerological relationships.
See also: MAGIC
Maier, Michael (c. 1568–1622) German alchemist and
physician
Maier was born in Holstein and studied medicine at the
university of Basle. From about 1608 to 1612 he practiced
in Prague, becoming court physician to RUDOLF II, who en-
nobled him as a Pfalzgraf (Count Palatine). His last years
were spent as a physician in Magdeburg. His first book
was Arcana arcanissima (Most secret secrets; 1614), which
was followed by a spate of publications in the next six
years. Two were defenses of ROSICRUCIANISM: Silentium
post clamores (Silence after the uproar; 1617) and Themis
aurea (Golden Themis [goddess of justice]; 1618). How-
ever, his most famous work is Atalanta fugiens (Fleeing
Atalanta; 1618), an emblem book which provides a syn-
thesis of medieval alchemy and Paracelsian and Rosicru-
cian philosophy. After a visit to England he translated
Thomas Norton’s influential Ordinal of Alchemy (c. 1470s)
into Latin (1618).majolica A tin-glazed soft earthenware pottery made at
several places in Italy during the 15th and 16th centuries.
It derived from the Islamic Middle East via Spain through
the Majorcan trade (hence the name). Sometimes called
Raffaele ware (after the influence of RAPHAEL), majolica
was particularly suited to brilliantly colored painted deco-
ration in the Renaissance taste.
The manufactures include domestic utensils, drug
jars, and ornamental display pieces. The painted decora-
tion surpassed previous achievements and consisted of
grotesques, arabesques, strapwork, armorial and com-
memorative statements, and narrative and mythological
scenes. Many of the centers of manufacture were under
noble patronage and developed individual styles. The
principal products prized by collectors include wares
from: Gubbio (patronized by the dukes of Urbino), famed
for ruby metallic lusters by Maestro Giorgio ANDREOLI;
Deruta (patronized by Cesare BORGIA), making yellow lus-
ters edged with blue; Caffagiuolo (patronized by the
Medici family), painting in bright orange, yellow, red, and
green on cobalt blue; Florence, where Luca DELLA ROBBIA
produced tin-glazed bas-reliefs and dark blue Gothic dec-
oration; Castel Durante (now Urbania), remarkable for
arabesques and grotesques, often on a blue ground; and
Faenza (see FAENZA). The technique was brought from
Castel Durante to Antwerp in the first decade of the 16th
century by Guido di SAVINIand from there exported to
England by his sons. An important source for knowledge
of Italian majolica in the 16th century is Li tre libri dell’arte
del vasaio (c. 1548) by the nobleman Cipriano Piccolpasso
(1524–79) of Castel Durante, in which he describes the
techniques used by the potters in making and decorating
their wares.
Further reading: Timothy Wilson, Ceramic Art of the
Italian Renaissance (London: British Museum, 1987).Malatesta, Sigismondo (1417–1468) Italian nobleman
and condottiere
Although the illegitimate son of Pandolfo Malatesta, lord
of Fano, he succeeded his uncle as lord of Rimini in 1432.
A successful condottiere, he served Pope Eugenius IV and
Francesco Sforza well, but his later desertion of King AL-
FONSO(I) of Naples in 1447 and his rejection of PIUS II’s
peace terms incurred the bitter enmity of other Italian
rulers. Pius II excommunicated him, launched a crusade
against him, and seized most of his territories (1459–61).
Although reviled on biased papal evidence as immoral,
cruel, and reckless, Sigismondo was a man of culture and
learning. He took a keen interest in military science and in22996 6 mmaagguuss