Perpetua is a serif typeface that was designed by English sculptor and stonemason Eric Gill for the British Monotype Corporation. Perpetua was commissioned at the request of Stanley Morison, an influential historian of printing and adviser to Monotype around 1925, at a time when Gill's reputation as a leading artist-craftsman was high. Perpetua is named for the Christian martyr Vibia Perpetua, a text by whom was used in one of its first showings; its companion italic is named "Felicity" for her companion of that name. The choice had appeal to Morison and Gill, both converts to Catholicism.