Libro quarto. De rechami per elquale se impara in diuersi modi lordine e il modo de recamare...Opera noua, page 13 (recto) 1532

This is a page from Alessandro Paganino's Libro quarto, a 16th-century embroidery pattern book made from woodcut on paper. It depicts two borders composed of sinuous lines and geometric shapes. Woodcut is a relief printing process: the artist carves away the negative space, leaving behind a raised design that will receive ink. Here, the thick, bold lines speak to the directness of this technique. You can almost feel the knife cutting into the wood, and imagine the physical effort required to produce multiple prints. Pattern books like this one played a crucial role in disseminating design ideas. Before the age of mass production, embroidery was a highly valued skill, essential for decorating clothing and household textiles. The designs in this book would have been meticulously translated into stitches, transforming the printed image into a tactile, three-dimensional form. Considering the labor involved in both the creation of the woodcut and the embroidery it inspired, this seemingly simple page reveals a complex relationship between design, production, and the skilled hands that brought these patterns to life.