Michele Mercati (Born 1541) was a physician and superintended for the Vatican Botanical Gardens. He was born in San Miniato, and worked under many Popes from Pius V to Clement VIII. His ideas were already being developed by other antiquarians independently. This was due to lateness of publication of his work. However, his writing served as a further stimulus to those who were working in this field. Shortly after the publication by Antoine de Jussieu, Mercati was lauded and his importance continues to be recognized to date. He was described by David Clarke as "the archaeological counterpart of Vesalius in anatomy, Cardano in mathematics, Copernicus in astronomy and Galileo in the physical sciences. He was among the first scholars to recognize that prehistoric stone tools were made by humans rather than being created mythologically or naturally. He even hypothesized that the stone tools must have been used when metal was unknown.
Mercati quoted Biblical passages to prove his hypothesis that in Biblical times, the first material used to make tools was stone. His interest lied in medicine, botany, paleontology, natural history and mineralogy; and he produced a book on these subjects titled the “Metallotheca.” Mercati also revived the Lucretius’ 3-age system, of which he described a succession of periods based on the use of stone, bronze and iron in that order. He was educated at the University of Pisa, where he earned bachelors degrees in philosophy and medicine. This provided him with a strong foundation for his works in art.
