What Great Paintings Say, Volume 1Did the Greek gods play tennis? What is the ambassador from the land of Alchemy telling us? What secrets are being told on the shores of the Island of Venus? And what is the monk doing on the Ship of Fools? These and other questions are asked about famous works of art in this book. Suddenly the pictures come alive and relate previously untold stories. In their own language they recall earlier fashions and opinions, trends and intrigues, and tell of love, sin and lifestyles from the past. Powerful men and their mistresses, painters and models all come together in this illustrated history of culture. They cease to be two-dimensional figures of art and become flesh and blood before our eyes. This is thanks to the forensic sixth sense with which the two authors expose the secrets of the paintings under scrutiny. They spotlight each individual section of the painting, analyse them, and then put them back together again like a huge jigsaw puzzle, revealing the history of art as a lively panorama of forgotten worlds. For once, works of art are not to be enjoyed simply as art for art's sake, but as a living testimony of bygone times. |
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Contents
The Portinari Altar c 1475 | 62 |
A message from the world of alchemy | 104 |
The utopia of common huntsmanship | 146 |
The Lord sits at the table of lords | 153 |
The Antwerp building boom | 159 |
For Tiber read Seine | 171 |
The barn is fulltime for a wedding | 177 |
A view to infinity | 368 |
The greatest amateur musician of the nation | 399 |
A studio opens its doors to the world | 405 |
The wrong uniform exposes the true culprit | 417 |
A look behind the scenes | 423 |
Laughing struggle for freedom | 434 |
Venue for gentry bourgeoisie and bohème | 440 |
Declaration of love for the capital of the world | 447 |
Jesus Christ the lonely contemporary | 465 |
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Common terms and phrases
16th century according antiquity artist Avvakum Battle of Issus beauty Bruges canvas Caravaggio Catholic centre Chagall Christ Christian church colour contemporary Cossacks court death decorated dress Duke El Greco Emperor English Europe executed eyes famous father feast figures Florence Folies Bergère forced France Francesco Guardi French frescos friends garden German Goethe gold Goya Habsburg hand head history painting important Italian Italy Jews king ladies land landscape later lived Madrid Manet marriage married Medici ment Middle Ages monastery Napoleon painter painting palace Paris patron peasants Petrus Christus Philip picture Piero di Cosimo play poet political Pope portrait probably queen Rembrandt Renaissance Roman Rome Rubens ruler saint scene seen ships Spain Spanish symbol Tintoretto tion Titian took town tradition ture Velázquez Venetian Venice Venus Virgin wall Wilhelm woman women wrote young