New Modelbüch (Page 44r)
Medium
Etching
Dimensions
Overall: 12 x 8 1/16 in. (30.5 x 20.5 cm)
Classification
Books|Prints|Ornament & Architecture
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1936
Accession Number
36.19(44r)
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the early 17th century, artists Andreas Bretschneider and Henning the Younger collaborated on the *New Modelbüch a practical "model book" of ornamental designs etched in 1615. This page (44r), measuring 12 x 8 1/16 inches, exemplifies the era's fascination with intricate patterns for craftsmen. Etching—a technique using acid to incise fine lines into a metal plate—allowed for precise, reproducible motifs ideal for books like this, which served as pattern sources for woodcarvers, metalworkers, and architects during the Northern Renaissance's transition to Baroque opulence. The composition b...
About the Artist
Andreas Bretschneider|Henning Gross the younger (German|German) · 1573 | –1645 |
German, Dresden ca. 1578–ca. 1640 Leipzig|