In today’s typographic landscape, few would still consider Bodoni to have a “modern” feel, but there was once a time when it’s vertical axis and thinned horizontal strokes were considered radical. Volterra—inspired by the forms of Bodoni—finishes what Bodoni started and eliminates the horizontal stroke altogether, breathing an elegant new energy into a 200-year-old classic.

Named for the artist hired to paint loincloths over Michelangelo’s “Last Judgement” when nudity in religious art was condemned, Volterra acknowledges that it is no easy feat picking up where a master left off. Volterra takes what has grown to feel traditional and transforms it into a delicate mixture of classic and modern, with razor-edged serifs and ultra-sharp strokes. Strictly a display face, the larger Volterra is used, the better it looks.