New Künstlichs Modelbuch (Page 6 recto)

Art Historical Context

Step into the intricate world of Renaissance design with *New Künstlichs Modelbuch (Page 6 recto)*, a woodcut print by Strasbourg printer Bernhard Jobin from1600. This page, measuring just 6 5/16 x 8 1/4 inches, showcases delicate floral motifs, exemplifying the ornamental patterns that defined early modern craftsmanship. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department (Rogers Fund, 1919), it belongs to a tradition of model books—essential guides for artists, goldsmiths, and embroiderers seeking repeatable motifs. Jobin's work reflects the late Renaissance explosion of pattern books, which democratized elaborate designs across Europe. Printed in Strasbourg, a hub for innovative publishing, this "New Artful Model Book" (*Neues künstlichs Modelbuch*) offered fresh, *künstlich* (artful) inventions blending nature and fantasy. Woodcut, a relief printing technique, was ideal for its bold lines and fine details, allowing mass production while capturing the era's love for symmetrical, blooming florals in architecture and decoration. These pages weren't mere illustrations but practical tools, influencing everything from textiles to metalwork. Today, they reveal how floral ornament bridged art and everyday life, inviting us to trace the tendrils of 17th-century creativity.

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...