Carmen figuratum

Carmen figuratum is a poem that has a certain shape or pattern formed either by some or all the words it contains. As a form of visual poetry, carmina figurata are similar to the calligram, notably the Calligrammes by Guillaume Apollinaire. Like calligraphy and typography, carmina figurata occupy a liminal space between graphic design and visual art. An example is France Prešeren's "Zdravljica", where the shape of each stanza resembles a wine goblet.

Origin of the term

The term derives from the carmina figurata of Renaissance texts – works in which a sacred image was picked out in red letters against a field of black type so that a holy figure could be seen and meditated on during the process of reading. Carmina figurata spread in the Carolingian period to spread the use and study of Latin.

Rabanus Maurus' De laudibus sanctae crucis or In honorem sanctae crucis '','' a medieval collection of metrical Latin poetry from the Carolingian period that use a crossword puzzle-like grid in manuscripts to visually represent Cruciform imagery in a variety of colorful compositions that range in complexity from poems shaped into basic visual patterns, such as numbers and single words with Christian symbolism, to full-figure representations, including a Crucifix, a portrait of Louis the Pious, and Rabanus' own self-portrait.

Portrait of patron	Self-portrait of artist	Carolingian Cross