They fascinate us today as they did 500 years ago: elaborate compositions of exotic fruits or platters with oysters, floral arrangements and skulls, exquisitely decorated musical instruments and scientific instruments. Magical things testify to exuberant wealth and hedonism as well as to the enlightened curiosity and religious fervour of the Baroque era. This lavishly illustrated book that even features a pictorial glossary sets the stage for the internationally renowned collection of still lifes housed in Dresden’s Gemäldegalerie (Picture Gallery). Focusing on the dazzling masterpieces of Dutch and Flemish painting, this book examines the genre in all its diverse facets. What meaning, what content, and what function did still lifes have, what allegories and symbols are concealed in their coded messages? How did the artists take the game of optical illusion to extremes? More than 70 still lifes from the Dresden collection by painters such as Cornelis de Heem, Abraham Mignon, Rachel Ruysch, and Frans Snyders provide a unique insight into the golden age of this magical genre.

A person's mien reveals the landscape of a life. In their expressive presence, not only do the eyes speak, but every detail of the face's features and folds tell of a life that has been lived. Therefore, it may not be entirely surprising that Giovanni Segantini, celebrated during his lifetime as a landscape painter and an innovator in Alpine paintings, saw the portrait as the noblest genre of art. It is all the more astonishing that this theme has received very little attention until now. The Segantini Museum in St. Moritz is now closing this gap with an exhibition and this companion catalogue. Assembled from private and public collections, this is the first exhibit to present Segantini's impressive portraits. An enchanting series of pictures, whose views of the models' lives also provides insight into the artist's life as well.

Susanne ist eine Frau in mittleren Jahren, beruflich sehr engagiert, familiar gefestigt und beliebt, stellt sich eines Tages kritisch die Frage, ob das alles in ihrem Leben gewesen sein soll. Und ist es richtig, wie mit Menschen umgegangen wird? Soll sie so weitermachen oder einen neuen, eigenen Weg beschreiten. Diese Uberlegungen fuhren zu einem radikalen Umdenken und Wandel ...

Susanne ist eine Frau in mittleren Jahren, beruflich sehr engagiert, familiar gefestigt und beliebt, stellt sich eines Tages kritisch die Frage, ob das alles in ihrem Leben gewesen sein soll. Und ist es richtig, wie mit Menschen umgegangen wird? Soll sie so weitermachen oder einen neuen, eigenen Weg beschreiten. Diese Uberlegungen fuhren zu einem radikalen Umdenken und Wandel ...