New Künstlichs Modelbuch (Page 10 recto) 1600

Curator: We’re looking at a page from Bernhard Jobin’s "New Künstlichs Modelbuch," created around 1600. It’s a woodcut printed in ink on paper, part of the collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Editor: It strikes me as intricate but also austere. The stark black ink against the toned paper creates a high contrast. It’s almost like looking at a textile pattern or pixel art, very structured and yet strangely organic. Curator: The "Modelbuch," or model book, served as a resource for artisans—patternmakers, embroiderers, and others who needed design ideas. The designs reflect the visual language of Mannerism, a style characterized by artifice and complexity. Consider this book a kind of encyclopedia of culturally-encoded patterns. Editor: Exactly, that grid structure speaks volumes. Notice how each tiny square contributes to the larger image—a figure holding what looks like a musical instrument, a decorative urn, and foliage. This very visual modularity echoes the late Renaissance aesthetic in Germany at the time, but also something else: perhaps some deeper mathematical harmony underpinning this seemingly chaotic world of patternmaking. Curator: And the geometric border along the top is a wonderful example of repeating motifs, reflecting ideas and motifs handed down through generations. Editor: There is also something visually pleasing about how well Jobin's composition is balanced, giving the book a pleasing, aesthetically coherent format. Curator: It provides a fascinating glimpse into the visual culture and aesthetic sensibilities of the time. Each design carried cultural associations and symbolic weight. We can decode so much about 17th-century beliefs and tastes from seemingly simple pattern books such as this. Editor: Yes, these historical handbooks transmit knowledge through shapes, revealing an intriguing cultural language with an intellectual aesthetic behind it. Curator: Studying images like this offers us access to the continuous thread of symbols within culture. Editor: It makes you consider, in turn, how we today find, and give, cultural meaning within our visual patterns.