Lucidario di Recami, page 15 (recto) 1564

Iseppo Foresto made this page from ‘Lucidario di Recami’ sometime in the 16th century, using ink on paper. This isn’t fine art in the traditional sense, but rather a page from a pattern book, intended to be used as inspiration for needlework. The book was made using printmaking, a relatively new technology at the time. The image would have been carved into a block of wood or metal by a skilled artisan; this painstaking work allowed for the relatively quick reproduction of the design onto paper. The floral and geometric patterns are divided into vertical panels – think of them as templates, ready to be translated into thread. Printing allowed designs to be disseminated far and wide, influencing the look of textiles across Europe, and beyond. The labor is subtly present, in the skilled hands that produced both the original design and the final embroidered object. So we can see this modest page as part of a much larger story, about the democratization of design, and the spread of visual culture.