Microsoft released the Michelangelus font based on Michelangelo’s manuscripts

Microsoft announced the release of the new serif font Michelangelus on 8 October 2026. It was created after the works and manuscripts of Michelangelo, the Italian Renaissance artist, architect, sculptor and poet. The font is already available for download, and at the end of the year it will begin to be distributed through Microsoft 365 applications, among them Word, PowerPoint and Excel.

The font was commissioned by the Fabbrica di San Pietro, a Vatican organisation that has been responsible for St. Peter's Basilica for centuries. The occasion was the 400th anniversary of the consecration of the basilica. The basilica is known for its gilded dome, which Michelangelo designed and which the Fabbrica has maintained for more than five centuries.

The font was made by Studiogusto, an independent creative studio from Italy and Germany. With the Vatican, Microsoft coordinated legal matters as well as typographic and technical checks. The studio's first decision was not to imitate the master's handwriting literally: readability and clarity of forms mattered more to the authors.

How the master's handwriting was studied

The designers studied signatures and pen strokes, as well as letters and notes by Michelangelo in the Vatican Apostolic Archive. The work began with the italic style rather than the regular one, because in that era people wrote in italic. Particular attention was paid to the lowercase “g”: refining it took a week of searching for a balance between historical character and a modern look.

By the studio's observation, Michelangelo wrote differently from what is customary in connected cursive: he raised his hand and formed each letter separately. In this manner the designers saw a hidden order, rhythm and proportions close to architecture. Few of the master's capital letters and numerals have survived, so examples were sought in inscriptions and sculptures, including the Roman capital letters on the band of the Pietà, inscriptions in St. Peter's Basilica and the Sistine Chapel.

Michelangelus has more than 2000 glyphs and four styles: regular, italic, as well as their bold versions. The creators believe the font is suitable for both everyday and monumental tasks.

Image: Alvesgaspar CC BY-SA 4.0 · License

Translation editor: Ловушкин А.