The perfect book for arty types

One of the first lessons is that giving is better than receiving. Best of all though is giving the present that you also covet greenly. So here goes Santa Claus, I’ve been better than good, and I want everyone, including every school and library, as well as every home, and me, to have a copy of Masterpieces in Detail - Early Netherlandish Art from van Eyck to Bosch by Till-Holger Borchert. (Prestel, E79.00) This magisterial book-of-a-lifetime explores, examines and explains the inner worlds of dramatic paintings created in the Lowlands between the 15th and 17th centuries.