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Writing

The art of calligraphy—elegant handwriting or lettering—evolved during the Renaissance. As humanists* stressed clarity and beauty in writing, they moved away from the cramped lettering of the Middle Ages. Instead, they looked toward ancient models of writing to create new styles of penmanship that were neater and clearer.

Many Renaissance scholars found medieval* calligraphy difficult to read. Two Italian humanists, Coluccio SALUTATI and PETRARCH, criticized the unclear handwriting of most medieval scribes*. Humanists wanted a new, clear form of writing that would express the ideals of their movement. Two followers of Salutati, Poggio Bracciolini and Niccolò Niccoli, helped create a well-defined humanist script.

Poggio developed a style of calligraphy known as humanist round hand or humanist book script. Compared to the script of the Middle Ages, the round hand employed more uniform spacing between words, used fewer abbreviations, and distinguished more clearly between different letters. Poggio's round hand had a strong influence on later styles of writing. After the invention of the printing press in the 1450s, his script became one of the most widely used types and the basis for typefaces used today.

Niccoli learned Poggio's writing and used it to create his own style, known as cursive. This form of writing, in which the letters connect and have rounded angles, became the basis for modern italic script. Both styles of humanist calligraphy spread gradually throughout Italy and the rest of Europe. They had a major influence on the development of the writing style used in European manuscripts.

(See also Illumination.)

* humanist

Renaissance expert in the humanities (the languages, literature, history, and speech and writing techniques of ancient Greece and Rome)

* medieval

referring to the Middle Ages, a period that began around A.D. 400 and ended around 1400 in Italy and 1500 in the rest of Europe

* scribe

person who copies manuscripts