On December 15, 1868, Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius (1794-1868), Professor of Botany at the University of Munich and director of the Royal Botanic Garden, was carried to his grave in a coffin covered with fresh palm leaves. The fronds were a reference to his groundbreaking Natural History of Palms: a work in three volumes, published between 1823 and 1853. This encyclopedic treasury of 240 exquisite chromolithographic illustrations was based on von Martius's expeditions through Brazil and Peru. From 1817 to 1820, he traveled over 2,250 km (1,400 miles) through the Amazon basin to investigate natural history and native tribes with zoologist Johann Baptist von Spix. The result was an unrivaled catalogue of all known genera of the palm family, outlining the modern classification of palms, describing all the palms of Brazil, and producing the first maps of palm biogeography. Von Martius's folio is unusual in its inclusion of cross-sectioned diagrams, conveying the architecture of these mighty trees, which central Europeans would have found hard to imagine accurately. Equally remarkable are the color landscapes showing various palms-often standing alone in simple and elegant beauty. About the series TASCHEN is 40! Since we started our work as cultural archaeologists in 1980, TASCHEN has become synonymous with accessible publishing, helping bookworms around the world curate their own library of art, anthropology, and aphrodisia at an unbeatable price. Today we celebrate 40 years of incredible books by staying true to our company credo. The 40 series presents new editions of some of the stars of our program-now more compact, friendly in price, and still realized with the same commitment to impeccable production.

The art market today is like a Monopoly game. There is an underworld of art secrets unknown to the public and many art experts around the world. This art collection was hidden away by the famous artist Picasso and his wife Jacqueline Picasso to keep them away from the hands of his illegitimate children, who today are in charge of the authentication certificates for the artist Picasso's artwork. This art collection is unique and has never been seen by anyone in the art world. Now, in this book, I am giving you the chance to see these unseen artworks, along with some amazing oil paintings by some of the other top artists in the world. Most of our Picasso paintings have been authenticated by Picasso himself or his wife Jacqueline. Some authentication was done in the artist's Barcelona museum, opened in Spain in 1963; others were authenticated on 18 February 1980 and 20 April 1982 by Jacqueline, with the help of Jon Miro and others. This is the story of one painting that will change history and show the facts, and what is known about Picasso's artwork, to the art world. This is a one-of-a-kind art discovery that will be registered in history as one of the biggest art discoveries made by one person. It will prove that this artwork, along with more than a hundred oil paintings and other artworks, was part of the private collection of Picasso himself and his wife Jacqueline. Their discovery will change history, revealing many unknown art secrets and never-seen-before oil paintings and artworks of the 19th century by Picasso and some of his favourite artists and best friends, like Georges Braque, Joan Miro, Fernand Leger, Piet Mondrian, Georges Rouault, Wifredo Lam, Henri Matisse, Ambroise Vollard, Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Vincent van Gogh, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and many more. This book will also reveal the secrets behind the Musee d'Orsay labels, stamps and red wax seals. This is not just a book; it is also an art catalogue of the never-seen-before artworks by some of the top artists in the world.

By 1650, the spiritual and political power of the Catholic Church was shattered. Thanks to the twin blows of the Protestant Reformation and the Thirty Years War, Rome, celebrated both as the Eternal City and Caput Mundi (the head of the world) had lost its pre-eminent place in Europe. Then a new Pope, Alexander VII, fired with religious zeal, political guile and a mania for building, determined to restore the prestige of his church by making Rome the must-visit destination for Europe's intellectual, political and cultural elite. To help him do so, he enlisted the talents of Gianlorenzo Bernini, already celebrated as the most important living artist: no mean feat in the age of Rubens, Rembrandt and Velazquez. Together, Alexander VII and Bernini made the greatest artistic double act in history, inventing the concept of soft power and the bucket list destination. Bernini and Alexander's creation of Baroque Rome as a city more beautiful and grander than since the days of the Emperor Augustus continues to delight and attract.