L'idea della architettura vniversale
Vincenzo Scamozzi's treatise on universal architecture, printed at his own expense in Venice in 1615 by Giorgio Valentino for architects, builders and patrons of the late Renaissance. The plates sampled here are square woodcut initials in which the letterform sits inside acanthus scrollwork occupied by winged half-figures, bird heads and bearded masks, printed coarsely enough to show the cut line — usable as drop caps, frame motifs or isolated grotesque ornament.
