Neu künstlich Modelbuch (page 36r)

Art Historical Context

This woodcut page comes from *Neu künstlich Modelbuch*, a late-sixteenth-century pattern book published by Bernhard Jobin around 1598. Such model books served as practical guides for artisans and needleworkers, offering repeatable ornamental motifs for embroidery, lace, and textile decoration. Jobin, active in Strasbourg, played a key role in disseminating these designs across Europe through the newly efficient medium of print. The woodcut technique was especially well suited to this purpose, allowing intricate patterns to be carved into blocks and printed in multiple copies with clarity and precision. As part of the Met’s collection of ornament and architecture, this page reflects the Renaissance interest in sharing artistic vocabulary beyond elite workshops, making decorative ideas accessible to a wider audience of craftspeople. Acquired as a gift in 1953, the sheet reminds us how printed pattern books helped shape everyday visual culture, turning elegant motifs into objects found in homes across the continent.

About the Artist

Bernhard Jobin · 1535–1597

Bernhard Jobin, born before 1545 in Porrentruy in the Swiss canton of Jura, emerged as a pivotal figure in the Strasbourg printing world. Trained as a Formschneider—a skilled woodblock cutter—he acquired Strasbourg citizenship in 1560 as a typesetter and joined the printers' guild, marking the start of his professional ascent. In 1567, he married Anna Fischart, sister of the renowned writer Johann...