On Pacioli’s Letterforms and the Debate Between Art and Science
summary
Claims that Roman capitals can be built with compass and ruler get tested against evidence: De Divina Proportione presents geometrical constructions, the manuscript survives in three known copies, but its letters do not use the golden ratio; Felice Feliciano and Damiano da Moile predate it. Practical experiments include rubbings and rubbings‑based reconstructions, Catich’s persuasive brush‑built Trajan that omits proportions, and Knuth’s Metafont system that generates parametric variants and demonstrably works.
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chapters (17)
- 0:00Introduction
- 0:57Luca Borgo
- 3:21Divina Proporciona
- 8:00Roman Capitals
- 8:33Franzesco Chrishi
- 10:44Valtor K
- 13:23Edward Katich
- 16:08Donald Knut
- 18:31Others
- 19:05Adubato Libre
- 22:48Alpha Beta
- 25:48Art and Science
- 27:25Scale
- 28:50Shape
- 29:38Evaluation
- 29:58Voice
- 31:30Conclusion
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