Coelestis physiognomoniae libri sex Ioan. Baptistae Portae Neapolitani : vnde quis facile ex humani vultus extima inspectione, poterit ex coniectura futura praesagire : in quibus etiam astrologia refellitur, & inanis, & imaginaria demonstratur
Giambattista della Porta's Coelestis physiognomoniae of 1603, printed in Naples, is a Latin treatise on reading character from the human face, arguing against astrology while presenting physiognomy as a predictive science for scholars. The pictures are small woodcut ornaments and historiated initials: a masked face flanked by grotesque figures, a foliate capital I with scrollwork, and a bearded man beside a seated monkey among vines, offering designers compact, dense models of Renaissance decorative structure.
