Which came first - the man or the mirror? This question is asked by Paola Dmitrievna Volkova in the fourth volume of the “Bridge Over the Abyss” series. For great masters, a portrait has always been not just an image of a person, but also a mirror, reflecting not only external, but also internal beauty. A self-portrait is a question to oneself, reflection and the answer that follows. Diego Velazquez, Rembrandt, El Greco, Albrecht Durer and Vincent Van Gogh - all of them leave us a bitter confession of a lifetime in this genre. Which mirrors did the beauties of the past preen in front of? Venus, rising from the waters, saw her reflection in them and was pleased with herself, and Narcissus froze forever, shocked by his own beauty. The canvases, reflecting only the ideal image during the Renaissance, and later the personality of a person, became eternal mirrors for anyone who dares to look into them - like into an abyss - for real. This publication is a revised cycle “Bridge over the Abyss” in that the form in which it was conceived by Paola Dmitrievna herself - in historical and chronological order. It will also include unpublished lectures from the personal archive. This publication uses photographic reproductions of works of art in the public domain, photographs distributed under a Creative Commons license, and images licensed from Shutterstock as illustrated quotations for text material.