New Künstlichs Modelbuch (Page 5 recto)

Art Historical Context

Step into the intricate world of Renaissance design with *New Künstlichs Model (Page 5 recto)*, a woodcut page created by Bernhard Jobin in 1600. Jobin, a prolific Strasbourg printer and pattern designer, produced this "New Artificial Pattern Book" part of a series that offered ready-to-use motifs for artisans across Europe. Printed on a modest 6 5/16 x 8 1/4 in. sheet, this page exemplifies the woodcut techniquecarving designs into wood blocks for bold, reproducible impressions—ideal for mass-producing templates. Modelbücher like this were essential tools for craftspeople, from embroiderers and lacemakers to goldsmiths and weavers, during the late Renaissance. Page 5 recto bursts with lively entrelacs of animals and flowers, symmetrical motifs blending natural forms into fantastical ornaments. These patterns drew from Northern European traditions, echoing the grotesque styles popularized by artists like Hans Holbein, and fueled the decorative arts boom amid growing trade and urban workshops. Today, housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department (Rogers Fund, 1919), it reveals how printed books democratized sophisticated design, bridging fine art and everyday craftsmanship in the early modern era. A testament to Jobin's ingenuity, it invites us to trace the threads of history in every flourish.

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...