During the Middle Ages, artistic ideas were transmitted from one region to another and passed on from one generation to the next, in the form of drawings. This kind of handmade reproduction, commonly called a 'model' (or exemplum in Latin), was used to record the form and content of works of art. Some of those drawings have survived in albums or 'model books'.

The author discusses the many and various aspects of these drawings with special emphasis on how they contribute to our understanding of the genesis of medieval works of art. The period extends to the fifteenth century, when artistic reproduction by mechanical means made its appearance.

1. The Introduction addresses such complex issues as the views of contemporary writers on the position of the visual arts in medieval thought and society, the development of labour-saving devices, the transition from drawing after earlier prototypes to the growing tendency to work from nature, and the 'emancipation' of the model in the early Renaissance.

The extensive catalogue raisonne of extant model books directs the reader to more specific problems. The Appendix summarises what little is known about the role of models in Byzantine art.