Illustrium anachoretarum elogia, siue, Religiosi viri musaeum
Illustrium anachoretarum elogia is a 1625 Venetian printed collection of praise-texts about hermits, compiled by Francesco Valesio and aimed at a devout readership. Its pictures are small woodcut historiated initials, each framing a robed figure, often a bearded hermit, within letter shapes set against landscape backgrounds of trees, hills and buildings, offering a designer ready models for compact ornamental capitals and period-styled framing.
