Rotunda Calligraphy and Illumination

Gothic Rotunda is one of the most striking scripts in the Portuguese calligraphic tradition. With rounded, elegant forms, it held particular importance in Portugal, being used in royal and chancery documents, religious manuscripts and other solemn records. It is also in the context of the Manueline reform that this script appears in documents such as the Foral of the City of Porto.

Across five sessions, participants will discover and practise Gothic Rotunda, exploring the construction of the lowercase and uppercase letters, their proportions, rhythm and ductus. In the final session, the work moves from practice to composition, building a phrase inspired by the Foral of the City of Porto, accompanied by an illuminated and ornamented Lombard initial.

An opportunity to immerse in historic Portuguese calligraphy, to get to know the forms of a script centuries old and, in the end, to create a small piece that combines calligraphy and illumination.