Ein new Modelbuch..., page 3 (recto)
October 22, 1524
Medium
Woodcut
Dimensions
7 5/16 x 5 3/8 in. (18.5 x 13.6 cm)
Classification
Books|Prints|Ornament & Architecture
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Herbert N. Straus, 1929
Accession Number
29.71(5)
About this artwork
This page from "Ein new Modelbuch" represents a significant milestone in the history of printed pattern books. Published by Johann Schönsperger the Younger in Zwickau on October 22, 1524, this was the first of five editions of the second—and earliest dated—printed pattern book. The complete volume features an illustrated woodcut title page depicting two women producing textiles on looms, a page with the author's signature and colophon, and 29 pages of intricate designs intended for needlework an...
About the Artist
Johann Schönsperger the Younger · 1490–1550
Johann Schönsperger the Younger, born around 1480 in Augsburg, was the son of the prominent printer Johann Schönsperger the Elder, with whom he apprenticed in the family trade. As a member of the Salzfertiger guild, he entered publishing around 1502, initially focusing on illustrated edification literature, medical texts, weather prognostications, and works by Erasmus in Augsburg. A notable early ...