ABSTRACT
Handwriting is primarily a medium for communicating a text, but it would seem that the image of handwriting on the page could also embody a message of its own, even though that message is difficult for us to interpret. The projection of such an image depended on several factors: a scribe’s capacity to apply his (or her) penmanship to produce an image of appropriate quality; the coexistence of different scripts, or different kinds of formal handwriting, to provide scribes (or patrons) with graphic options; and a cultural, political or social context that would enable contemporary readers to recognize the significance of the image.
