Rustling gowns, stately backdrops, exotic fruits and elegant accessories - the portraits and still lives from the baroque era mostly point to the sunny side of life. But not rarely concealed behind the figures and decorative arrangements are tales of adventure and crossed destinies.

In its new presentation from the collection, The Sunday of Life, the Wallraf will feature particularly charming, rarely shown or freshly restored paintings on their very own stage. And the figures who appear there, who had themselves painted by masters such as Tintoretto, Nicolaes de Largillière, Jan Mijtens and Nicolaes Verkolje, were without exception glittering personalities.

One particular highlight of the exhibition is the “painted biography” of Everhard Jabach: four portraits, presenting the famous Cologne banker and collector in various stages of his life. Especially magnificent is a private loan from Belgium showing the young Jabach as seen at that time by the Flemish star portraitist Anthonis van Dyck.