What Great Paintings Say: Old Masters in Detail (Examining Paintings) [Hardcover]

Rose-Marie Hagen (Author), Rainer Hagen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 16, 2000

Did 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 from the successful "Examining Paintings"-series. 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.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 500 pages
• Publisher: Taschen (March 16, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 3822870471
• ISBN-13: 978-3822870471
• Product Dimensions: 12 x 9.8 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #243,297 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, with one fatal flaw..., March 8, 2002

By 

Thomas Hutchison (Springfield, Missouri United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: What Great Paintings Say: Old Masters in Detail (Examining Paintings) (Hardcover)

This book is a beautiful edition, and serves the purpose of explaining sybolism in art quite nicely. There is, though, one flaw: Most of the large color plates are spread across the spine of the book. This is not a problem for most, but as an art student, studying the paintings with 15% lost in the spine is a problem.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Lively Interpretive Guide, August 22, 2003

By 

e appelman (Montreal) - See all my reviews

This review is from: What Great Paintings Say: Old Masters in Detail (Examining Paintings) (Hardcover)

The book is fascinating. The reproductions are big and good, and the text is readable and jargon-free. The authors present a painting, then provide a historical and social analysis of what the time's effects were on the artist and how to read below the surface of the picture, illustrating their points with details drawn from the work. In the few cases where I was acquainted with the works and their times, I found the interpretations spot on.
This is a book that will help anyone interested in art, art history, or just plain history to develop a fuller understanding of great artists and of the times when they lived.

1 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Clear and Informative Book, March 28, 2003

By 

Muzaffer Muctehitzade "hacibey" (Boston, Ma USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: What Great Paintings Say: Old Masters in Detail (Examining Paintings) (Hardcover)

I bought this book hoping that it will explain to me why some painters are so highly regarded and other copy caps are not. Book basically goes over mostly Renocence pictures and tell the story behind each painting either what it depicts in terms of symbolism or history behind it or resons and financing behind it. It is a combination History book and paintings. It tells yo that for example Boticelli's Birth of Venus is first in Ronecance for nudity but it does not tell me why her feet is crooked, why anybody else who probably did similar paintings at the same time did not get this much fame. That is what I was looking and could not find. Still looking for the right book but this book by itself is very good for the purpose of its design.