Ein new kunstlich Modelbuch...
1544
Medium
Woodcut
Dimensions
Overall: 7 11/16 x 5 7/8 in. (19.5 x 15 cm)
Classification
Books|Prints|Ornament & Architecture
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1922
Accession Number
22.84.1(1r)
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the Renaissance world of design with *Ein new kunstlich Modelbuch (A New Artistic Pattern Book), created by the Cologne printer Peter Quentel in 1544. This compact woodcut book, measuring just 7 11/16 x 5 7/8 inches, served as a treasured resource for artists, goldsmiths, embroider, and other craftsmen. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's and Prints department (Rogers Fund, 1922), it exemplifies the explosion of printed pattern books in 16th-century Europe, art and everyday craft. Quentel's woodcut technique—carving intricate designs into wooden blocks and inking them for mul...
About the Artist
Peter Quentel · 1500–1550
Peter Quentel (ca. 1500–1546) was a prominent German printer and publisher based in Cologne, active from 1518 until his death on March 1, 1546. The son of the esteemed printer Heinrich Quentel (d. 1501), Peter began issuing books under his own name around 1518 and fully assumed control of the family press by 1520, eventually serving multiple terms as a Cologne city councilman. His early life is no...