Spechio di pensieri delle belle et Virtudiose donne, page 4 (verso) 1546

This page of lace patterns was printed in Venice by Matteo Pagano sometime in the 16th century, likely using a woodblock. The designs demonstrate the period's love of complex geometry. Note the repeating motifs, zig-zagging lines, and elaborate knots. The whole page has a kind of systematic intricacy. These patterns were not generated by a machine, of course. They were carefully drawn, and then impressed as a matrix for printing. Consider how this relates to the labor of lacemaking itself. It was painstaking work, done by hand. Printed pattern books like this one were essential to the trade, spreading designs across Europe, and allowing makers to reproduce fashionable styles. The black ink shows where the threads were meant to go, a guide to very specific movements. Ultimately, we can think of this page as a kind of choreography, encoding countless hours of skilled labor. It’s a reminder that even the most delicate and decorative objects are born of a structured, demanding process.