Francesco Torniello
This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. (April 2014) |
Francesco Torniello da Novara | |
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Born | 1490 Barengo, Duchy of Milan |
Died | 1589 Treviglio, Duchy of Milan |
Occupation(s) | typographer, geometrician, writer, friar |
Francesco Torniello da Novara (c. 1490 – 1589) was a
Life
Torniello was born between 1488 and 1491 in Barengo, which was part of the Duchy of Milan.[1] He came from a noble family of the area. He studied geometry and mathematics. In 1519 he joined the Order of Friars Minor as a preacher. In 1525 Torniello and his brother, Giovanni Antonio gained Milanese citizenship. He died in 1589 in the monastery of Treviglio in the Duchy of Milan.[1]
Works
Torniello's works were focused on adopting the
geometric conditions. His works were influenced by Luca Pacioli's Divine Proportione (Divine Proportions) and Sigismondo Fanti.[1] These fonts were not then designed for usage in the printing press, but as a model for artistic inscriptions. Torniello designed a 18X18 grid which served as a coordinate system for his geometrical fonts, which were designed for printing press usage.[1] In his work Opera del modo de fare le littere maiuscole antique, which was printed in 1517, Torniello enriched, calligraphically and geometrically, previously-existing fonts. Geometrical conditions were added to the letters "M", "R", "S" and "T". The letters "S" and "T" were also enriched calligraphically.[1] In order to broaden the usage of his fonts in non-Latin texts Torniello added the letter "Z". He also was the first typographer to define the point as unit of measurement in typography.[1]
Writings
- Opera del modo de fare le littere maiuscole antique, 1517, Milan.
Only four copies of the book exist today: one is located in Seville, one in Milan and two in Cambridge.