Michelangelo’s calligraphy is entering computers around the world. Thanks to an agreement between the Fabbrica di San Pietro and Microsoft, it will be possible to write using a typeface inspired by the handwriting of the great Renaissance artist, reproduced and adapted for the needs of digital communication. The new font is called Michelangelus and will become part of the Microsoft Office ecosystem, making it freely accessible to millions of users. This innovation brings together the artistic heritage preserved by the Vatican and contemporary information technologies.
The initiative was first announced last year by Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, then Archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica, at the end of the celebrations dedicated to Michelangelo. Now, the official confirmation has come from the Fabbrica di San Pietro, which commissioned the project to the design studio studiogusto®, as part of a broader collaboration with Microsoft to digitally enhance the Vatican’s cultural heritage. The project was born from the study of the artist’s original manuscripts, aiming not only to reconstruct the shape of the letters but also the proportions, rhythm, and harmony of his handwriting. The result is a contemporary typeface that preserves the visual imprint of Michelangelo’s writing while making it readable and usable in standard computer programs.
Michelangelus includes over 500 glyphs, the graphic signs needed to represent letters, numbers, symbols, and other characters, and is available in four versions: Regular, Italic, Bold, and Bold Italic. It is a complete font family, designed to work both in digital documents and in print, according to the standards required by Microsoft 365 applications.
The font can also be downloaded and installed for free, even outside the Office environment, through a licensing system designed to ensure proper distribution. Michelangelo’s handwriting, as stated in a press release, preserved for centuries in documents and archives, thus becomes a language accessible to everyone. With a curious reversal: the hand of the artist who helped build St. Peter’s can now, in a way, accompany the writing of a letter, a work document, or a simple electronic message.
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