This plate comes from the Mira calligraphiae monumenta (“Model Book of Calligraphy”), one of the most celebrated manuscripts of the late Renaissance. The imperial scribe Georg Bocskay wrote it in the 1560s for Emperor Ferdinand I; some thirty years later, Joris Hoefnagel — the last great Flemish manuscript illuminator — added a construction alphabet, painting each capital letter on a measured grid and surrounding it with fruit, flowers, insects and fantastical ornament in watercolor and gold.
The letter S sits beneath a second grid showing how its curves were constructed. A great eagle spreads its wings across the top of the page, with two smaller eagles perched on blue orbs at either side; between the grids, a crowned shield bears the letter R — very likely for Emperor Rudolf II, for whom Hoefnagel illuminated the book. Laurel branches, red ribbons and golden urns complete the frame. The gold-lettered cartouche quotes Psalm 16, a fitting line beneath those wings: Sub umbra alarum tuarum protege me a facie impiorum qui me afflixerunt — “Protect me under the shadow of your wings, from the face of the wicked who have afflicted me.”
The page has been carefully restored from the original manuscript: surface damage and discoloration reduced, the parchment tone balanced, and the colors and gilding brought back to life, while keeping the hand-painted character of the original.
Find your initial. A single letter makes a meaningful gift — for a nursery, a newlywed couple’s new home, or a family name — and the full Renaissance Alphabet can be hung together as a gallery wall. (The Renaissance Latin alphabet has 23 letters: J, U and W were not yet in use.)
Available as a print-ready digital download in five frame ratios.
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