After first studying in Cologne, Hans von Aachen moved to Italy in 1574 to further his studies. He toured Rome and Florence, eventually settling in Venice. Combining Flemish traditions and Italian innovation he developed a style of his own. Returning to Germany, he lived in Cologne and Munich as a painter of the nobility. In 1592 he was appointed official painter of Rudolph II, Holy Roman Emperor in Prague, finally moving to Prague in 1601, where he painted commissions from Emperor Rudolph II and his successor, Matthias I. The elegance, humour, and sensuality of his mythological and allegoric paintings continue to be a fascination. His religious presentations are symbolic of the constant change in a turbulent world. The Los Angeles Museum of Art (LACMA) numbers paintings from Hans von Aachen among its collection.

Kolb has produced a thoroughly researched essay on this painting, which is in the Getty Museum. The study focuses on Brueghel's depiction of nature, especially his exacting representation of identifiable species of animals and birds, the names of which are listed. Brueghel's collaboration with other painters, his and other painters' re-use of the same theme and composition, and the history and practice of natural history collection and representation are central themes. The volume, which is printed in a horizontal format (it's 11x8") and heavily illustrated, is written for a general audience, though art historians will also find much of interest.

A Companion to Late Medieval and Early Modern Augsburg introduces readers to major political, social and economic developments in Augsburg from c. 1400 to c. 1800 as well as to those themes of social and cultural history that have made research on this imperial city especially fruitful and stimulating. The volume comprises contributions by an international team of 23 scholars, providing a range of the most significant scholarly approaches to Augsburg’s past from a variety of perspectives, disciplines, and methodologies. Building on the impressive number of recent innovative studies on this large and prosperous early modern city, the contributions distill the extraordinary range and creativity of recent scholarship on Augsburg into a handbook format. Contributors are Victoria Bartels, Katy Bond, Christopher W. Close, Allyson Creasman, Regina Dauser, Dietrich Erben, Alexander J. Fisher, Andreas Flurschütz da Cruz, Helmut Graser, Mark Häberlein, Michele Zelinsky Hanson, Peter Kreutz, Hans-Jörg Künast, Margaret Lewis, Andrew Morrall, Marjorie Elizabeth Plummer, Barbara Rajkay, Reinhold Reith, Gregor Rohmann, Claudia Stein, B. Ann Tlusty, Sabine Ullmann, Wolfgang E.J. Weber.

Dramatic changes during the Reformation era in Northern Europe, such as witchcraft and new global discoveries, are examined through visual culture, both prints and paintings.