This handsome tome from Prestel is written by Giovanni Aloi. While many of Freud's best known works are his portraits and nudes Aloi concentrates here on the lesser known aspects of his work - the paintings of plants. He argues that while centuries of botanical illustration and still-life painting has objectified plants and focussed on aesthetic appearances and symbolic meanings, in Freud's hand the plant's enigmatic presence is revealed. Beyond the introduction the next chapter of the book is a history of plants in art, including works by Cedric Morris, Monet and Botticelli. The following chapter is all Freud including the late series of works of his garden off Notting Hill Gate, thick with buddleia. Finally the plates stand on their own in chronological order from childhood drawings of flowers and cacti to still lives of thistle from early on in his art school education through combined portraits with plants such asStill-life with Green Lemon toElm Tree after Constable made in 2003.