  We present the first near-IR milli-arcsecond-scale image of a post-AGB binary
that is surrounded by hot circumbinary dust. A very rich interferometric data
set in six spectral channels was acquired of IRAS08544-4431 with the new RAPID
camera on the PIONIER beam combiner at the Very Large Telescope Interferometer
(VLTI). A broadband image in the \textit{H} band was reconstructed by combining
the data of all spectral channels using the SPARCO method. We spatially
separate all the building blocks of the IRAS08544-4431 system in our
milliarcsecond-resolution image. Our dissection reveals a dust sublimation
front that is strikingly similar to that expected in early-stage protoplanetary
disks, as well as an unexpected flux signal of $\sim$4\% from the secondary
star. The energy output from this companion indicates the presence of a compact
circum-companion accretion disk, which is likely the origin of the fast outflow
detected in H$\alpha$. Our image provides the most detailed view into the heart
of a dusty circumstellar disk to date. Our results demonstrate that binary
evolution processes and circumstellar disk evolution can be studied in detail
in space and over time.
