This book sets out to investigate the wealth of the artistic production that developed in Central Europe (Austria and Bohemia in particular) in the first half of the 19th century, when Biedermeier appeared as an original attempt to give rise to a "universal" stylistic expression. Its simplicity of line, rigorous and simple although not lacking in elegance and refinement, the appearance of the first craft productions based on standard models and its unquestionable modernity all make Biedermeier the first example of design, the undisputed point of breakdown between Classicism and Modernism. Indeed, it is considered on the most fascinating genres of the 19th century.

The volume offers a 360° view of Central European production using more than 300 objects of extraordinary originality, quality and workmanship from the National Gallery and Museum of Decorative and Applied Arts of Prague and from major Bohemian museums. Paintings, furnishings, sculptures, drawings, graphic works, artistic craftsmanship, jewels, ceramics and glassware that decorated the homes of gentry and bourgeois, miniatures, daguerreotypes... Remarkable pieces such as the refined lady's desk, designed and constructed in the workshop of the most important creator of Biedermeier furniture, the Viennese Josef Danhauser (1780- 1829), and a beautiful lyre- shaped secrétaire with walnut veneer and musical motif carvings that overcome the ostentation of Empire style.