Minerals - Staurolite - English Italian Hand

"Staurolite: It's easy to see why numerous religious and folklore legends have been associated with staurolite throughout time. From the Greek, stauros (cross) + lithos (stone); the natural cross-shaped crystal formation (known as "twinning") of staurolite has long made the mineral a good luck talisman, especially in association with Christianity. Chemically, staurolite is aluminum iron silicate hydroxide with various other trace minerals. Other than as a souvenir, staurolite is principally used by mineralogists to estimate temperature, depth & pressure at which rock undergoes metamorphism.

The Italian Hand style I've rendered here is essentially my own but based on the early English form of Italian Hand (popular about 1690 to 1710). The English originally adopted the French style of Italian Hand; but by 1690 Italian Hand began taking a distinctive English style. The early French influence is clearly exhibited in the spiraling flourish patterns & wavy line strokes, as well as in the t, o, & a minuscule shapes and the exaggerated lobes on the a & o."

~2016, Don Marsh~
©2016 Don Marsh