“Y” by Mauro Poggi

“Y” by Mauro Poggi

c.1730

Hand-painted Engraving

This beautifully decorated engraving from Mauro Poggi's celebrated Alfabeto di lettere iniziali reimagines the letter Y as an ornate showcase of late Italian Baroque design. Conceived by the Florentine calligraphy master Mauro Poggi and printed through the precise line work of engraver Abbé Lorenzo Lorenzi around 1730, the expansive cursive letter is constructed from fluid, twisting golden fronds. These scrolling botanical elements create distinct visual pockets across the composition, neatly framing three whimsical entities: a central winged cherub scaling the main stem, a slender bird striding within the upper right loop, and a graceful winged sphinx reclining amidst blossoming branches on the lower left tail. Hand-painted watercolor tones accentuate the deep dimensionality of the foliage while bringing a lifelike energy to the figures, resulting in a striking balance between decorative type and biological illustration. Operating equally as an instructional script specimen and a tour de force of visual fantasy, the print stands as a testament to the absolute peak of eighteenth-century book ornamentation.

Poggi's Alfabeto di lettere iniziali is widely regarded as one of the finest and most imaginative alphabet books of the eighteenth century. Comprising twenty-four engraved initials, each letter is animated by an inventive cast of animals, mythological creatures, and human figures integrated seamlessly into sweeping Rococo forms. Although little is known about either Poggi or his engraver, Lorenzo Lorenzi, this remarkable publication secured Poggi's lasting reputation among historians of lettering and book arts. Bibliographer Bonacini described it as a "precious collection of astonishing imaginative richness," while H. Lehman Haupt, in his influential 1958 essay Human Alphabets, praised Poggi's ability to achieve "monumentality" through the graceful integration of countless decorative details into unified compositions. Extremely scarce, with only a handful of institutional copies recorded, the work represents a high point in the history of ornamental alphabets and reflects the eighteenth century's fascination with the union of calligraphy, printmaking, and decorative art.

Dimensions: H 11 ½”x 17 ½”W

Condition: Slight perforation on right, tape on back