Schön newes Modelbuch (Page 26r) 1608

Curator: This is a page from the "Schön newes Modelbuch," a book of model designs created in 1608 by Sigismundus Latomus. The artwork is a woodcut printed on paper, currently held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Editor: Ah, it has this beautifully austere quality. Stark geometric forms rendered in monochrome evoke both precision and this rather pleasing rusticity... Curator: Indeed, the linework is meticulously structured; the composition establishes a strict adherence to symmetry, featuring dense interweaving of linear elements to create complex patterns and geometric figures. Note how the artist organizes space using the contrast between positive and negative shapes. Editor: There's something both very rigid and surprisingly organic happening here; like formalized botany rendered on graph paper, constrained, cultivated. Were these motifs common then? Curator: Pattern books like this served as indispensable tools for artisans—embroiderers, lacemakers, and other textile workers. These offered a source of inspiration, instruction in decorative techniques, enabling the widespread dissemination of artistic styles across Europe. The use of geometric patterns provided the basis of many needlework designs during this era. Editor: I’m imagining nimble fingers painstakingly recreating this. It has this very homespun feel but is somehow meticulously organized and reproduced. It speaks to domesticity but also something grander like commerce, ingenuity, innovation in the textile trade, all neatly bound up. Curator: It demonstrates how art and design intersect in the everyday. Latomus masterfully uses line and shape. He is showcasing how design moved in early modern life, how these repeating geometric patterns have a kind of internal logic all their own. Editor: Precisely! It reminds us of the human desire to order and beautify our surroundings. It’s just one page but seems to capture a world and the creative processes of the time. It feels incredibly current!