The paintings and drawings of Michele Melillo (*1977) enchant the viewer with their lightness and harmonious colours. Accompanied by an explanatory essay by Veit Ziegelmaier, this comprehensive artist monograph reproduces for the first time works from all work cycles by the young German painter and graphic artist.Michele Melillo starts with historicalreferences when developing his works, combining in masterly style motifs from the Baroque and Rococo eras with a modern vocabulary of forms, folkloric ornaments and classical architecture. Fauvist orgies of colour and sprawling lines characterise the recurring subjects of his pictures: the barque as a symbol of the Egyptian sun god Ra, fabulous creatures and unusual animal pictures or portraits of people long believed to be dead. After studying painting with Prof. Axel Kasseböhmer at the Academy of Fine Arts, today Melillo lives and works in Munich. As the monograph impressively proves, hisworks instantly fascinate the viewer and surprise repeatedly with their profound wit.