Essempio di recammi, page 24 (verso)

Art Historical Context

This woodcut comes from *Essempio di recammi*, a printed pattern book published in Venice in 1530 by Giovanni Antonio Tagliente in collaboration with the da Sabio brothers. As one of the earliest known manuals dedicated to embroidery designs, the volume offered practical models that artisans and needleworkers could transfer directly onto fabric. Page 24 verso likely displays a delicate ornamental motif—typical of Tagliente’s clear, repeatable patterns—rendered through the crisp lines of woodcut technique. In the early sixteenth century, such books marked an important shift in Renaissance craft culture. Before printed patterns became widely available, embroidery designs were closely guarded secrets passed within workshops or noble households. Tagliente’s accessible format helped spread fashionable motifs across Italy and beyond, influencing both domestic textiles and professional production. Housed today in the Metropolitan Museum’s collection of Drawings and Prints, this modest volume reminds visitors how a simple printed page could carry artistic ideas from the designer’s hand to countless embroidered works now lost to time.

About the Artist

Giovanni Antonio di Nicolini da Sabio e i fratelli|Giovanni Antonio Tagliente (Italian|Italian) · 1522 |1465 –1545 |1528

Italian, active Venice, ca. 1522–1545|Italian, Venice ca. 1465–1528 Venice