Documentary evidence makes it clear that wooden models were a standard part of the production process in Northern bronze sculpture, something distinctly different from sculptural practice in Italy. The focus here is on the carved wooden models for metalwork in the documented work of Jan Borreman (active c. 1479–1520), among his most prestigious sculptural commissions for patrons in the Burgundian Netherlands. Through analysis of bronze projects associated with Borreman, the paper explores the fundamental role of wooden models in Northern sculptural practice. The very nature of models – often ephemeral and part of specialized production in collaboration with other artists – has obscured this important aspect of Northern Renaissance art. Evidence suggests that the skill of the Northern sculptor in translating a drawing into a three-dimensional design was valued as much as – or beyond – that of invention.