Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Roman Holiday

Via Margutta, Rome

In Roman Holiday, the Via Margutta is where Gregory Peck's character, the expat writer Joe Bradley, lives. So if you happened to miss this bit of text on the wall whilst gawking at the dashing Mr. Peck or the alluring Audrey Hepburn as Princess Anne, you'd certainly be forgiven for the oversight.

Many of the sights in Rome have a sense of weathered permanence, and this carved sign on the Via Margutta is no exception. It was the bright blue of the text that first caught my eye, but especially charming here are the rakish tails on the R's and the severe cut of the apostrophe.

For more on the street itself, and to see what all this elegance has to do with famed clock-melter and lobster phone impresario Salvador Dali, see also #53.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

This blue and gray is very yummy.
Not sure how to say that in Venetian-styled Italian though.

Julie said...

This got me to wondering how Victor Borge would interpret this font, lovely font though it be.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lF4qii8S3gw

myletterstoemily said...

one of my favorite movies!

Therese Cox said...

designslinger - I suppose eating the plaque is out of the question?

Julie - Especially that sharp apostrophe...

myletterstoemily - Mine too. I love the whole movie, and I certainly never, ever tire of watching Gregory Peck.

Jackie said...

mmmmmmm. Gregory Peck. He will always be Atticus Finch to me. And I will always love him with the same gusto I normally only reserve for Christopher Plummer when he is using that gloriously piercing whistle as Captain Von Trapp.

Therese Cox said...

Perhaps a GP mash-up is in order: "Southern Holiday": a sort of courtroom drama with lots of southern drawls and Vespas whizzing back and forth.