The Queen of Flower Painters. Rachel Ruysch – Her Greatest Love Was Art

  • The gripping and fascinating biographical novel of a strong woman and painter who was more successful than Rembrandt in her lifetime
  • An artist of international standing: Rachel Ruysch’s still lifes can be admired in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich, the Uffizi in Florence, the National Gallery in London, as well as in Australia and the USA
  • For everyone who wants to experience the Golden Age in Amsterdam at the end of the 17th century through the eyes of a woman who was far ahead of her time

»The Rediscovery of the Old Master Rachel Ruysch Has Only Just Begun« DER SPIEGEL


Amsterdam, 1679. Every time Rachel is absorbed by the hustle and bustle at the Dam – the smell of salt, the shouts of the sailors, the foreign languages – it is as if the gate to another world opens. Only one thing gives her even more joy: lessons with the renowned flower painter Willem van Aelst, who, however, can soon teach the exceptionally gifted young woman nothing more. When Rachel falls in love with the portrait painter Juriaen Pool, her life takes a new turn. Not only does she not put down her brush even in her role as a mother of ten, she is even appointed court painter by Elector Johann Wilhelm in Düsseldorf. And she meets the maid Emma, whose search for her origins soon pulls Rachel into a maelstrom of dark power struggles.

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  • Publisher: Knaur TB
  • Release: 01.06.2026
  • ISBN: 978-3-426-56309-0
  • 400 Pages
  • Author: Alexander Schwarz
Buchcover von The Queen of Flower Painters. Rachel Ruysch – Her Greatest Love Was Art: Roman
Alexander Schwarz The Queen of Flower Painters. Rachel Ruysch – Her Greatest Love Was Art
Portrait von Alexander Schwarz
© Alexander Schwarz
Alexander Schwarz

Alexander Schwarz, geboren 1964 in Stuttgart, arbeitete lange als Verleger und Programmleiter, bevor er eine Literaturagentur gründete. Nach vielen Reiseführern und Sachbüchern schreibt er nun mit immer größerer Begeisterung vor allem biografische Romane. Unterbrochen von einem mehrjährigen Aufenthalt in Island, wohnt er seit geraumer Zeit in den Niederlanden.