By James Clough
Greetings from Milan.
Being a born and bred Londoner I've always considered that city to be more interesting than any other in the world. "When you're tired of London you're tired of life" said Samuel Johnson in the 18th century. It's just possible that Johnson may have adapted to his city a thought that had already been expressed by Tacitus or some other Roman historian, nearly 2000 years earlier. Rome was fascinating then – if you weren't a slave – and it still is today, especially if you're a type nerd. Indeed, the thoughts that are are still twirling in my mind a few days after my recent trip seem to be on their way to forcing a reconsideration of my long-held belief that London was Number One.
Exciting artistic "discoveries" can be made in any Italian town whatever its size and this is especially so when it comes to lettering. Being the biggest city in Italy and also having been the centre of the Roman Empire followed by the rise of the Papacy and the Catholic Church, it is not unnatural that Rome stands above any other place in Italy for inscriptions. The ancient Roman ones are not so thick on the ground as signs with words like Bar or Trattoria — although, as we know, some of these latter are fascinating for other reasons. Many inscriptions are in museums such as the one we visited last Wednesday. Others have to be looked for, along the Via Appia for example, or you may almost literally bump into them unexpectedly, as I did in the Ghetto. There are also some wonderful medieval examples (like the 14-metre long mosaic in the Santa Sabina church). Moreover, there is no place like Rome for revived Imperial letters from the 16th century with inscriptions in baroque architecture in churches and other monuments that you may have already seen with Mauro Zennaro. I find that an interest in letterforms cannot be separated from an interest in architecture and history too.
My thanks to everybody for having participated so enthusiastically in my workshop. I enjoyed our discussions and it was a pleasure to work with you. I only wish I could have had more time to get to know everybody a bit more than I did. I continue reading the blog posts and I look forward to seeing final results of your projects.
Wishing you all the best for your final week in Rome.