New Modelbüch allen Nägerin u. Sydenstickern (Page 20v)
Medium
Woodcut
Dimensions
Overall: 7 5/16 x 5 5/16 in. (18.5 x 13.5 cm)
Classification
Books|Prints|Ornament & Architecture
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1930
Accession Number
30.59.2(20v)
Rights
Public Domain
Art Historical Context
This woodcut page comes from the 1556 pattern book *New Modelbüch allen Nägerin u. Sydenstickern* (“New Model Book for All Needleworkers and Silk Embroiderers”), published in Germany by Jacob Frölich with designs associated with Hans Hoffmann. Created during the Renaissance, such model books served as practical resources, offering repeatable ornamental motifs that could be transferred onto fabric for embroidery and needlework. Printed from carved woodblocks, the medium allowed these designs to circulate widely among craftspeople at modest cost. The page’s intricate patterns reflect the period’s taste for elaborate, nature-inspired ornament that blended Gothic and emerging Renaissance aesthetics, helping standardize decorative vocabulary across regions. Today the sheet offers a glimpse into how printed images democratized artistic knowledge, linking fine design traditions with everyday domestic crafts and preserving ornamental ideas that might otherwise have remained confined to court workshops.
About the Artist
Hans Hoffman|Jacob Frölich (German|German) · 1556 | –1556 |
German, active Strasbourg, 1556|