Newes Modelbuch in Kupffer (Page 21r)
1604
Medium
Etching
Dimensions
Overall: 5 11/16 x 7 1/16 x 3/4 in. (14.5 x 18 x 1.9 cm)
Classification
Books|Prints|Ornament & Architecture
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Charles R. Richards, 1929
Accession Number
29.59.3(21r)
Tags
Art Historical Context
This etching comes from Johann Sibmacher’s *Newes Modelbuch in Kupffer*, a pattern book published in Nuremberg in 1604. Sibmacher, a German engraver and publisher, specialized in creating accessible design resources for artisans. Printed on copper plates, the book offered intricate ornamental motifs that could be adapted for embroidery, lace, textiles, and architectural decoration—practical tools for craftsmen across Europe during the early Baroque period. As part of the Metropolitan Museum’s Department of Drawings and Prints, this page exemplifies how printed pattern books democratized artis...
About the Artist
Johann Sibmacher · 1590–1611
Johann Sibmacher (c. 1561–1611), also rendered as Johann Ambrosius Siebmacher, was a German copperplate engraver, etcher, and publisher based in Nuremberg whose contributions to heraldic art and decorative pattern design left a legacy that outlasted him by centuries. Active from around 1590 until his death in 1611, Sibmacher worked at the heart of Nuremberg's flourishing book and print trade, a ci...