Typographer on the pope's tomb: "Exemplary for slovenliness of morals"

Typographer Erik Spiekermann would not have let his students get away with the design of the inscription on Pope Francis' tomb. "Twenty years ago, I would have travelled to Rome and protested," said the typeface designer told "Die Zeit" on Thursday. The dead Pope probably didn't care about such things: "However, the inscription - if I may say so as an older gentleman - is exemplary of the slovenliness of morals. We are losing our appreciation for so many activities."

The Tomb of Pope Francis in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore bears only the inscription "Francis". The design had already been rejected immediately after the funeral met with rejection. Like other critics, Spiekermann believes that basic rules of typography have been disregarded: Normally, people write in such a way that the relationship between the letters is clear and they appear connected. "Fortunately, we now know what the man's name was. But if the name was in a phone book, we would probably read Fr. A. Nciscvs and be confused."

Incorrect operation of the milling machine as the cause?

The designer suspects an error in the programming of the computerised milling machine used as the cause. The error could have occurred when transferring the lettering to the machine. "If the font is not converted into so-called character paths, the machine may load a different font instead and the entire design is lost. That would explain both the incorrect kerning (the equalisation of the spacing between the letters, editor's note) and the strange font," says Spiekermann.

The Vatican probably also had to save money and simply used the "Times New Roman" font, which is installed on every computer. Instead of the standard font, the typographer would have opted for "Trajan", the "epitome of Roman script", which is named after Trajan's Column in Rome and is modelled on the ancient Roman monumental font. The font named after Cardinal Pietro Bembo (1470-1547), which is modelled on a typeface from the Renaissance, is also conceivable.

Clear instructions from Pope Francis for his funeral

Erik Spiekermann is a designer, typographer and typeface designer. Until his retirement, he was Professor of Visual Communication at the Berlin University of the Arts. Typefaces developed by him such as "FF Meta" and "ITC Officina" are considered modern classics. His best-known projects include the Deutsche Bahn typeface system.

Pope Francis himself, in his will published after his death on Easter Monday published his will published after his death on Easter Monday: a simple underground grave with the inscription "Franciscus" in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. The Pope had also specified the exact location in a niche in the side aisle between the Cappella Paolina (Chapel of the Salus Populi Romani) and the Cappella Sforza. (fxn)