ITALIC SCRIPT

in calligraphy, script developed by the Italian humanists about 1400 from antique Latin texts and inscriptions. The humanists called the Carolingian minuscule in which most of these sources were preserved lettera antica, mistakenly regarding it as a Roman script from the time of Cicero. The Florentine scribe Niccol Niccoli (d. 1437) combined the rhythm and fluidity of the familiar black-letter current hand with the narrow, inclined strokes of the lettera antica in his antica corsiva, which became the model for italic printing types. As in modern italic fonts, the form of a is distinctive, and f, g, k, and a long thin s are more or less reminiscent of black-letter cursive. For his headings Niccoli preferred Roman capitals italicized by a slight inclination to the right.