HUMANISTIC SCRIPT AND ILLUMINATION. - The humanistic movement, so rich in consequences in all expressions of civilization, could not fail to leave its mark also in the field of writing: but the study of the new forms to which it gave rise, while it may appear simple in its essential lines, proves in reality quite arduous for a palaeographic investigation that wishes to fix with exactness the peculiar elements and criteria of dating of humanistic writing.
With the 15th century, in fact, the medieval concept of the writing centre (v. SCRIPTORIUM) declines, and the characteristics of school either level out into a uniform appearance that writing derives from a common source of imitation (although around certain scholars writing schools with definite peculiarities are formed), or remain cancelled by the vigour with which personal elements assert themselves, variable from individual to individual and no longer reducible to a common factor in geographical or chronological terms. So that the recent attempt to extend to the writing manifestations of the modern age the method of investigation proper to medieval palaeography does not seem acceptable (K. Pivec, Paläographie des Mittelalters - Handschriftenkunde der Neuzeit?, in Festschrift zur Feier des zweihundertjährigen Bestandes des Haus-, Hofund Staatsarchivs, edited by L. Santifaller, I [Mitteilungen des Österreichischen Staatsarchivs. Ergänzungsband II], Vienna 1949, pp. 225-36), whereas the study devoted to the writing of individual figures proves fruitful for this period (cf. A. Campana, Scritture di umanisti, in Rinascimento, Dec. 1950, pp. 227-56), from which there may perhaps in the future arise the methodological approach to be given to the problem of humanistic writing as a whole. A general view is therefore necessarily deficient: an attempt will nevertheless be made to fix certain fundamental points, noting in the first place the impropriety of the expression "humanistic writing", inasmuch as it is necessary to distinguish at least two writings, for which it will be convenient in this place to retain the traditional names, themselves also improper, of "humanistic minuscule" (or humanistic book minuscule, or round) and of "humanistic cursive" (or humanistic cursive minuscule).
THE HUMANISTIC MINUSCULE SCRIPT AND ILLUMINATION
The general appearance of this script is very similar to that of the perfected Carolingian (v.), and it is often confused with it. The phenomenon is explained by the very origin of the humanist minuscule, which is not the result of an evolution from the forms of Gothic script (although a few examples of Gothic minuscule with less harsh strokes, already precursors of a new style, have been given the name "fere-humanistica"), but the product of a conscious and deliberate imitation of Carolingian script, which the man of the Renaissance mistook for "classical" writing and called precisely "littera antiqua." The manuscripts of the Carolingian and Ottonian age, which the zeal of the humanists went seeking out in monastic libraries, oriented the taste of the copyists toward a return to the simple elegance of the round forms of Carolingian script, against the barbaric harshness of Gothic, which Petrarch had already not spared his censure (Ep. famili., XIII, 4; XXIII, 19); the imitation "ad unguem" of the codices antiqua became the aesthetic canon of the new script (cf. Ambrosii Traversari epistolae et orationes, ed. L. Mehus, Florence 1759, col. 501). Nevertheless, the experience of Gothic script means that the humanist minuscule displays, in comparison with Carolingian, certain unconscious differences, ranging from the constant presence of the diacritical mark over the i to the more correct use of the diphthong (frequently in ligature), from the thinning out of abbreviations to the pronounced use of the finishing strokes at the upper and lower ends of the ascenders. As regards particular letters, it should be observed that the a is of the uncial type, while the d is of the minuscule type (that is, with a straight ascender); the r appears now in the straight form, now in the round one; the round t (of majuscule type) is often found also within the body of the word; the crossbar of the t remains below the upper end of the vertical ascender. The humanist minuscule spread from Florence throughout Italy, at least in the centers of culture, but its brief life did not allow it to establish itself also outside the Peninsula; its chronological limits may be placed between the beginning of the 15th century and the beginning of the 16th: with the spread of printing it lost its function, but left a lasting trace of itself in the roman typeface.
THE HUMANISTIC CURSIVE SCRIPT AND ILLUMINATION
Although it is influenced by the minuscule, the humanist cursive must be considered separately, inasmuch as it does not always represent the same script traced with a cursive ductus; in many examples it is nothing but the result of an evolution of the Gothic cursive, particularly of the Italian one. Since, moreover, it is not possible to extend the name of humanist to all the numerous types of cursive script that, from the fragmentation of the Gothic, went on developing in the various countries in forms ever more decidedly personal and by then removed from any characteristic of school, by humanist cursive is generally meant a particular script which, although freer and more rapid than the minuscule, is linked to it and preserves, with its reflective character, its calligraphic composure, serving not only for documentary use but also for book use. Like the minuscule, the humanist cursive too left its mark on printing, giving rise to the cursive (slanted) typeface, also called "italic," consecrated by the editions of Aldus Manutius; but unlike the former, the humanist cursive spread (perhaps precisely through printing) throughout all Europe (except in the German countries) and from it there later sprang all modern scripts. Its general appearance is determined at times by a slanting of the ascenders toward the right, due to oblique stroking; more often by the linking of each letter with the preceding and the following one within individual words. Characteristic elements may be considered: the closed a, of cursive type, which in the tracing of its lower part narrows the curve into a very pronounced sharp angle; the f, which by developing the initial and terminal stroke of the ascender gradually takes on the characteristic modern form with the two whip-like loops; the r, which passes from the straight form (minuscule), prevalent from the earliest phase and preserved in printing, to the round one, which acquires a particular appearance from which the minuscule r of present-day writing springs; the s, which by adding to the round form (of majuscule type) a small linking stroke with the preceding letter gives rise to the modern minuscule s; the t, which tends to prolong its vertical ascender upward. It is interesting to note how the humanist cursive was adopted by the pontifical Chancery from the middle of the 15th century for briefs, while in privileges and bulls in general the chancery Gothic went on developing in forms ever more artificial, which gave rise to the bollatica (v.).
LA MINIATURA
Like humanistic writing, the miniature of this period was above all an Italian glory, inasmuch as in the other countries of Europe it developed essentially along the lines already indicated by the preceding period, especially in France, where Gothic miniature had attained, in the preciousness of Books of Hours and in the compositional elements of Breviaries and Bibles, a decorative perfection difficult to surpass. Developing this tendency, the French school and, under its influence, the English school gradually lose sight of the proper task of the miniature, tending ever more markedly toward purely pictorial effects, in full-page compositional pictures: a tendency that is then carried to its ultimate consequences by the Flemish school. In Italy, on the other hand, despite transalpine influences, especially in full-page figuration, the ornamental motif preserves its function and revives the decorative elements, with vivid colors, animating them with small but perfect genre scenes which interrupt, in geometric frames or roundels, the frieze that encloses the page, in which putti, fasces, animals and ribbons are interwoven to the point of attaining the preciousness of a marletto. At the center of the lower margin there often appears the coat of arms of the patron. It is in fact above all the princely courts that keep this art alive with commissions for richly ornamented codices: the Medici of Florence, the Este of Ferrara, the Montefeltro of Urbino, the Aragonese of Naples and the popes themselves are eager to enrich their own libraries with sumptuous codices that bear witness to their patronage. Florence and Ferrara contend for primacy with their workshops, in which artists of clear fame work and to which commissions arrive from every side; but Naples, Perugia, Siena and other cities too boast first-rate schools. Since it is not possible to summarize briefly the peculiarities of each and to cite the names of the major artists and their most famous products, the reader is referred to the works indicated in the bibliography. - V. di tav. LXXII.
Bibliography16 works
