Teatro d'imprese
Giovanni Ferro's Teatro d'imprese, printed in Venice in 1623, is an Italian folio compendium of emblems and heraldic devices compiled for courtiers, scholars and designers of mottoes. Its 768 woodcuts run from emblem plates to decorated initials like these square blocks, where a hatched capital sits among vine scrolls, leaves and tendrils — ready-made drop caps, borders and device motifs.
