Schön Neues Modelbuch (Page 2 verso) 1597

Curator: So, we're looking at a page from Johann Sibmacher's "Schön Neues Modelbuch," printed in 1597. It's a woodcut on paper, housed at the Metropolitan Museum. Editor: It looks like a page of ornate text, almost like a poem, surrounded by a decorative border. It feels…formal, almost impenetrable to a modern viewer. How do you interpret this work? Curator: The Modelbuch isn’t "high art" in the traditional sense. It's deeply tied to the economic and social realities of its time. These weren’t meant to be hung on a wall. They were pattern books, resources for artisans, particularly women, involved in textile production. Consider the materials themselves – woodcut, paper, ink, the very labor invested in each print, and who had access to such material. The means of production here, not some ethereal "artistic genius," are central. Editor: So, it's less about individual expression and more about the broader system of craft and production? Curator: Precisely! Look at the verses themselves, “Women/ who are rich in this art / With needles/works/ stitches fine / so artistic and practiced to be." It points directly to women's labour as skilled workers. Think about the cost and labour involved. Each print democratizes this style of art, challenges our modern hierarchy between "fine art" and "craft". How do we understand the function of pattern books such as this at the intersection of textual transmission and image dissemination? Editor: I never considered how accessible printmaking made these styles, and what that means to "traditional art." Thank you, seeing it as part of textile production, rather than just a piece of "art," makes a lot more sense now! Curator: Yes, seeing the piece in this new materialist and socio-economic context really highlights the ingenuity behind Sibmacher's piece.