Elegantly traditional with qualities of time-worn dissipation, Villanella resurrects the hand-carved lettering of a gravestone in Florence, Italy.

Located on a floor tomb in Chiesa di San Salvatore al Monte in Florence, Italy, reads “Qui giace il frale di luige del nibbio pregate per la di lui anima” (“Here lies the brother of Luige del Nibbio. Pray for his soul”).  Since the 15th century, patrons of the church have walked upon the grave, transforming aspects of the sophisticated serif letterforms into a variety of dissipating strokes, distinctive negative counters, and a high contrast appearance. Built with tapered lines and purposeful negative spaces, Villanella is best used at display scale.

The church was known to be one of Michelangelo’s favorite locations that he referred to as “my beautiful villanella.” The phrase signifies a “rustic beauty” or “sober elegance,” defining characteristics of both the church and the lettering found within it. Villanella breathes new life into the work of an unknown hand by preserving it in a digital form centuries later. Honoring the beauty of what has lasted while upholding the intrigue of the markings of time is the foundation of Villanella’s design.

Villanella was showcased as part of AU Type Foundry’s 2023 Exhibition titled “Transcend: Across, Beyond, and Through.” Exhibiting a collection of resurrected typefaces, Transcend brings to life a once lost history of the original makers, the forms they created, and what they created them for. The exhibition aimed to explore how bringing ephemeral moments of history to life in the present day creates a moment where the layers between times are thinned.

I had the privilege of serving as the project manager for the exhibition, working under a Creative Director to oversee the ideation and execution of the exhibition design and the layout design of the specimen publication that pairs with the exhibition.