La Pratique de l'Aiguille
Medium
Engraving, woodcut
Dimensions
Overall: 9 1/4 x 7 1/16 in. (23.5 x 18 cm)
Classification
Books|Prints|Ornament & Architecture
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1920
Accession Number
20.50.1(1-78)
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
Art Historical Context
"La Pratique de l'Aiguille," published in 1605, a rare instructional pattern book dedicated to the art of needlework. Created through the combined efforts of designer Matthias Mignerak, engraver Pierre Firens, and printer Jean Le Clerc, the volume carries a dedication to Marie de’ Medici, then Queen of France. Its pages combine engravings and woodcuts to present ornamental designs, including figures of men and female nudes alongside coats of arms, offering models for embroidery, lace, and decorative textiles. In early seventeenth-century Europe, such books served both practical and courtly purposes, helping noblewomen master intricate stitching techniques while showcasing the latest fashions in ornament. The inclusion of architectural and figural motifs reflects the period’s taste for elaborate surface decoration that blurred the line between clothing, furnishings, and fine art. Printed in a modest format of roughly 9 by 7 inches, the work exemplifies how prints disseminated artistic ideas across social circles. Today it stands as a valuable record of how Renaissance design principles were adapted for domestic craft, preserving patterns that once guided the hands of skilled needleworkers at the French court.
About the Artist
Matthias Mignerak|Pierre Firens|Marie de Medici|Jean Le Clerc (Italian| | |French) · 1575 | | |1641 –1642 | | |1641
Florence 1575–1642 Colgne| | |French, born Paris 1641