Capitalis quadrata
The Capitalis quadrata (also Quadrata , square script or Capitalis elegans ) is an ancient Roman capitals font for manuscripts . Based on the model of its variant carved in stone, the Capitalis monumentalis , the square script was used by the Romans as a book script alongside the canonized Capitalis .
The name Quadrata is derived from the geometric shape of the individual letters, which is based on a square, equilateral triangle and circle. Like the Capitalis monumentalis, the square script is notated with serifs , word separations and ligatures are rather rare.
From the second half of the 1st century AD to the end of the 3rd century AD, the square script experienced its peak under the emperors Augustus , Tiberius , through to Trajan , Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius . It remained in use until the 6th century; it can even be found in individual manuscripts and as a distinctive font until the 9th century.
While the Capitalis quadrata was used for magnificent manuscripts, especially for texts from the Roman Classical period (e.g. in Vergilius Augusteus ), the canonized Capitalis, with its narrower and less geometrically structured letters, is used as more delicate and less imposing standard book script. In addition, an italic variant of Capitalis was used for everyday purposes, the older Roman cursive (uppercase cursive ), which was more suitable for casual and fleeting writing.
See also
literature
- Günter Bernt: Capitalis quadrata. Capitalis rustica . In: Lexicon of the Middle Ages (LexMA). Volume 2, Artemis & Winkler, Munich / Zurich 1983, ISBN 3-7608-8902-6 , column 1472 f.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Ancient writing University of Passau, tutorial