La Hadriana : tragedia nova
La Hadriana is a 1586 tragedy by the Italian playwright Luigi Groto, printed in Venice by the Zopini brothers, Fabio and Agostino, for a literate reading public. Its two pictures are small woodcut-style ornaments: a dense black interlaced initial block of capitals and a central seated figure within a scrolled cartouche with a halo and flanking lions. A designer could take from them the layered look of Venetian letterpress ornament, with strong black shapes, hatched shading and symmetrical framing.
