The term Hessian evokes the 18th-century German soldiers engaged by the British to fight in the American War of Independence. Few outside of Germany know of the noble family that has led the state of Hesse since the 16th century and continues to this day. This publication examines the family's vast art collections and draws from unpublished letters, photographs, and documents to record a chapter of European history never before written. Photographs of the Hesse residences provide a context for the illustrations and entries for more than 200 works of art. In addition to the Darmstadt Madonna by Hals Holbein, the book illustrates outstanding examples of German baroque silver and furniture, a royal coach, a gilded throne, German Romantic paintings, Winterhalter portraits, and Jugendstil (or Art Nouveau) works from the Hesse-sponsored Darmstadt artists colony