Vita Christi
Vita Christi is a 1614 devotional life of Christ by Manuel das Povoas, printed in Lisbon at the press of Pedro Crasbeeck. The pictures are decorated woodcut initial letters, here L, H and I, built from dense scrollwork, acanthus-like foliage and a few acorn or pinecone motifs set inside plain or framed letterforms. A designer could take from them the ornamental logic of early printed capitals, with heavy hatched shading against open cream grounds.
