Der Goldschläger A Gold Beater at Work       

        In the foreground, the gold beater wields his hammer upon the sleeve that holds the gold sheet which is being flattened and stretched by the hammer's blows until it is thinner than the thinnest paper.  Very thin "gold leaf" can be applied to manuscript illuminations, sculptures, and other objects to produce a light-reflecting surface.  The man in the background holds the stylus used to press tiny bits of gold leaf into the surface of a book's page.

Jost Amman's hand colored wood cut, one of 132 from Staende und handwerter mit versen von Hans Sachs. [Book of Trades] Frankfurt a/M, 1568.