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XL
XL books are at least 34 cm (13.4 in.) high, with the exception of landscape-format titles

What Great Paintings Say. 100 Masterpieces in Detail

80

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If you thought these paintings were familiar, look again, and look closer. Part art history, part detective work, this fascinating collection explores 100 world-famous works of art through enlarged details, revealing the fashions and lifestyles, the loves and intrigues, politics and people that truly make a masterpiece.
Hardcover with fold-outs9.6 x 13.4 in.8.67 lb642 pages
XL
XL books are at least 34 cm (13.4 in.) high, with the exception of landscape-format titles
What Great Paintings Say. 100 Masterpieces in Detail

What Great Paintings Say. 100 Masterpieces in Detail

80

100 masterpieces under the microscope

Paintings' hidden secrets revealed

This important addition to our understanding of art history’s masterworks puts some of the world's most famous paintings under a magnifying glass to uncover their most small and subtle elements and all they reveal about a bygone time, place, and culture.

Guiding our eye to the minutiae of subject and symbolism, authors Rose-Marie and Rainer Hagen allow even the most familiar of pictures to come alive anew through their intricacies and intrigues. Is the bride pregnant? Why does the man wear a beret? How does the shadow of war hang over a scene of dancing? Along the way, we travel from Ancient Egypt through to modern Europe, from the Renaissance to the Roaring Twenties. We meet Greek heroes and poor German poets and roam from cathedrals to cabaret bars, from the Garden of Eden to a Garden Bench in rural France.

As we pick apart each painting and then reassemble it like a giant jigsaw puzzle, these celebrated canvases captivate not only in their sheer wealth of details but also in the witness they bear to the fashions and trends, people and politics, loves and lifestyles of their time.
The authors

Rose-Marie Hagen (1928 - 2022) was born in Switzerland and studied history, Romance languages, and literature in Lausanne. After further studies in Paris and Florence, she lectured at the American University in Washington, D.C.

Rainer Hagen was born in Hamburg and graduated in literature and theater studies in Munich. He later worked for radio and TV, most recently as chief editor of a German public broadcasting service. Together they have collaborated on several TASCHEN titles, including Masterpieces in Detail, Pieter Bruegel, and Francisco de Goya.

What Great Paintings Say. 100 Masterpieces in Detail
Hardcover with fold-outs24.4 x 34 cm3.93 kg642 pages

ISBN 978-3-8365-7747-2

Edition: Spanish

ISBN 978-3-8365-7748-9

Edition: French

ISBN 978-3-8365-7749-6

Edition: English
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5

/5

15 Ratings

Beautiful and Detailed

Owain,October 28, 2021
An excellent and substantial book, not only reproducing some of the world's greatest works of art throughout human history, but giving a detailed written account of each artwork. This includes an overview of the artist and the subject; the historical and social context of the period and place of its creation; and, an analysis of the symbolism incorporated into the work, and what it would have meant to the contemporary viewer. I would highly recommend this to any student of art or history.

Los secretos de las obras de arte. 100 obras maestras en detalle

David I.,October 28, 2021
Muy completo.

Cada obra guarda secretos por descubrir

Manuel S.,October 28, 2021
Toda una experiencia descubrir que en las pinturas existen motivaciones del autor que permiten apreciar de una increíble forma su obra, que existen mensajes que nos trasladan con pequeños detalles imperceptibles, así como descubrir el contexto personal, social e histórico en el que fueron creadas. De fácil lectura, una obra en cada ocasión que lo apoyo sobre mis rodillas en mi zona de lectura favorita.

GENIAL

Thery,October 27, 2021
Super interessant de connaître les anecdotes de certaines peintures. et de regarder les oeuvres d'un autre oeil plus curieux!!!

El arte de los secretos del arte

Xavier,October 27, 2021
Imprescindible para los curiosos del arte, de la historia y de los enigmas que encierran algunas pinturas célebres