Dottore giambattista bodoni biography meaning

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His typefaces are characterized by a contrast between thick and thin strokes, and a strong verticality that is a hallmark of the neoclassical style of the period. Bodoni's contributions to the field of typography are numerous and significant. Visits to the printing house, a destination of the Grand Tour, multiplied, leading him to become known in all the European courts.

samples of typefaces designed and engraved by him.

1775 – Epithalamia Exoticis Linguis Reddita for the wedding of the Crown Prince of Piedmont Carlo Emanuele of Savoy and Maria Clotilde of France, a splendid volume full of 26 different oriental characters and illustrated with 139 engravings.

1783 – He is appointed Printer of the Chamber of Charles III of Spain.

It includes around a hundred fonts, including Cyrillic ones, and is still used today.

Early Life and Education

Giambattista Bodoni, the son of printer Francesco Agostino, was born on February 16, 1740, in the town of Saluzzo in the Piedmont region of Italy. He was also a pioneer in the use of modern typographic techniques, such as ligatures, swashes, and alternate characters.

He was the first to make use of sharp serifs, bold and thin strokes, and balanced proportions, which have become the foundation of modern typefaces. At the age of 18, on February 15, 1758, he went to Rome, following in the footsteps of his grandfather, who was a typesetter at the Vatican.

Work at the Vatican

On the recommendation of the prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, Bodoni introduced the 'Garamond' font, created by the French typographer Claude Garamont in the 16th century and acquired by Pope Sixtus V.

He worked at the typography of the Vatican's Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, which deals with missionary work and the spread of Catholic doctrine. Two copies were also printed on Bavarian parchment, one for Napoleon (now in the National Library of Paris) and one for Eugene (in the Palatine Library of Parma).

1810 – Napoleon awards Bodoni a life pension of three thousand francs “in consideration of the progress he has made in the art of typography”.

1811 – Murat decorated him with the Order of the Two Sicilies.

1812 – Napoleon decorated him with the Imperial Order of Reunion with a gift of 18,000 francs.

In the last three years of his life, the tireless Bodoni worked on the finalization of the four French classics commissioned by King Joachim Murat: Fenelon, Racine, La Fontaine, Boileau for the education of his son Napoleon Achille.

For the birth of the king of Rome, he printed the Cimelio Tipografico Pittorico, dedicated to Napoleon and Maria Luigia.

1813 – He died in Parma on November 30.

His fame became unstoppable thanks to his first Manual, printed as an exhibition of the characters he had cast in 1788, and which even landed in America, receiving praise from Benjamin Franklin. In July he was in Milan to bring the Oratio Dominica, hosted in Monza by the Viceroy.

1808 – Iliade in Greek, his masterpiece, superb edition in three volumes of maximum format.

He left the typography after its director, whom Bodoni considered his teacher, committed suicide.

Career in Parma

Bodoni's dedication to learning, his diligence in mastering ancient languages and fonts, and his incredible energy impressed the management so much that they allowed him to put his name on the first books he published, a Coptic liturgical book and a Tibetan alphabet reference guide.

His use of crisp, sharp serifs, bold and thin strokes, and balanced proportions make them a timeless typeface. His typefaces were widely influential and were used to set books, newspapers, and other printed materials throughout Europe.

Called as he was to reorganize the characters of Claude Garamond purchased by Sixtus V and commissioned by Francis I for the editorial aesthetics of the French monarchy, Giambattista was soon able to put into practice the idea of ​​a “coordinated” graphic image of the State, given that from 1768 he worked for the Dukes of Parma, codifying for their benefit an original and universally recognizable page, with rigorously defined characters, no longer inspired by calligraphic principles but finally typographic.