So-called Vienna Model Book, with Leather Case, Selection
ca. 1410/20, with later additions
Model books were functional aids for workshops and itinerant artists, providing a ready supply of motifs and patterns. In this luxury edition, a painter working in the "Soft Style" (International Gothic) set out to reproduce the essence of his source patterns broken down into motifs. This is the purest example of a collection of model patterns specialising in various types of human head and animal skulls. Except for two later portraits, all the silverpoint drawing were drawn by one and the same hand and modelled with a fine brush in red and white. Its compilation as a folding book and the precious leather case suggest it was a present for an exalted patron from whom the artist may have hoped to obtain commissions.
Model books were functional aids for workshops and itinerant artists, providing a ready supply of motifs and patterns. In this luxury edition, a painter working in the "Soft Style" (International Gothic) set out to reproduce the essence of his source patterns broken down into motifs. This is the purest example of a collection of model patterns specialising in various types of human head and animal skulls. Except for two later portraits, all the silverpoint drawing were drawn by one and the same hand and modelled with a fine brush in red and white. Its compilation as a folding book and the precious leather case suggest it was a present for an exalted patron from whom the artist may have hoped to obtain commissions.
Time:
ca. 1410/20, with later additions
Object Name
Model Book
Culture
Bohemian
Material/technology:
Silverpoint drawing on paper, maple wood, leather
Dimensions:
9,5 cm × 9 cm
Copyright
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Kunstkammer
Invs.
Kunstkammer, 5003