Swan

[fpupulin]

In the first of the exquisite engravings of Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, the enigmatic work of the Italian humanist Francesco Colonna (I have a great copy of a limited edition of this work from 1964 *), the main character Poliphilo appears “temendo el periculo del scuro bosco”, fearing the danger of the dark woods (p. 7). I took the inspiration from this nice illustration to create a different version, where the figure of Poliphlo is substituted by a swan opening the wings.

I made the drawing with a Montblanc 149 fitted with a 1978 extra nib, using Toffee Brown ink. The vintage 14C EF nib is very soft and almost flexible. To trace the thinner strokes I used the rear of the nib.

I copied the block initial letter “I” from a useful volume of decorative alphabets **, using the EF nib of my Hemingway filled with Collodi ink. The vergata paper of my Scriptorium leather-bounded notebook is great, and notwithstanding the amount of ink used to fill the dark areas of the initial letter, the ink do not bleed through behind the leaf. I guess the paper should have a weight of about 120-130 gr/m2.

Finally, I added the text “IN NEMOROSA SILVA ALAS SUAS CYCNUM EXPANDIT” with the italic nib of a Sheaffer calligraphy pen. The nib is engraved XF, and I think it must be around 1 mm wide. My idea was using a Latin character, following the example of the beautiful “capitale elegante libraria” conserved in the manuscript of Virgil’s Aeneid known as the Vergilius Augusteus, written toward the end of fourth century A.D. However, as I did not made enough exercise with this beautiful alphabet, and with the nib too wet from dipping it in the inkwell, the resulting calligraphy is well below my expectations… Well, a good opportunity to try making it right in the next work!

* Colonna, F. 1964. Hypnerotomachia Poliphili. Edizione critica e commento a cura di Giovanni Pozzi e Lucia A. Ciapponi. Padova, Editrice Antenore.

** Nesbitt, A. (ed.). 1987. Decorative alphabets and initials. New York, Dover Publications.

[Inked]

Beautiful!

 

Thank you for sharing. I love the swan idea.

 

Inked

[bubba818]

Awesome job on the illustration and the toffee brown ink works really well with the hue of the paper.

[LeonW]

Once again I am in awe, beautiful.

[Sampanel]

Awesome !! A beautiful piece of art work !!!

[T4TEXAS]

Absolutely beautiful work. Thanks for sharing.

[Wolverine1]

You have outdone yourself!!!!!:)

[KAC]

An outstanding rendition, indeed. Beautifully executed. I've owned an oversized, illustrated, translated (by Joscelyn Godwin) copy of that book for years. For your next effort, take a look at the text and illustratioins in the Voynich Manuscript. As a bonus, if you successfully crack the cypher, I'll give you my personal Hemingway (custom oblique left medium MB-ground nib included)!

[VivienR]

Fantastic work! Thanks for sharing!

[Uncial]

Totally jealous of your skill. Amazing work, thank you for sharing it.

[Diderot]

Stunning.