Want to discover the meaning of prehistoric painting? Decipher Egyptian hieroglyphics and admire the frescoes preserved by the ashes of Vesuvius in the Villa of the Mysteries in ancient Pompeii? To begin a journey through the most intriguing works of the Renaissance, the Baroque and the 19th and 20th centuries? To unveil the secrets of La Gioconda, The Virgin of the Rocks, The Knight with his Hand on his Chest, the Sistine Chapel and the paintings of Raphael or Titian, among other famous works? These pages will also take you to the fascinating paintings of the Golden Age, from classics such as The Venus in the Mirror or Las Meninas to the macabre world of Valdés Leal. We will discover the mysteries of the Renaissance in the brush of the great masters of Northern Europe: The Arnolfini Husbands by Jan van Eyck, The Lady with the Pearl by Vermeer, The Ambassadors by Holbein the Younger, The Flemish Proverbs by Brueghel and his hidden sayings. We will be surprised by the pre-surrealist fantasy of Goya's last period, the creations of the so-called cursed artists, such as the rebel Caravaggio, or the masterpieces of Van Gogh, Francis Bacon, Frida Kahlo, Modigliani and Jackson Pollock. Unsolved enigmas are hidden in dreamlike paintings such as The Nightmare by the Swiss Füssli, Et in Arcadia ego by the French classicist Poussin or Lunch on the Grass by the impressionist Manet. We will also explore possible time travel and the so-called sensory painters. Throughout history, art has conveyed, often in a veiled way, secret messages. Artists, above all intellectuals - even self-taught ones - used the brush not only to capture the perfection of a painting or a sculpture, but also to communicate feelings, emotions, philosophical reflections, mathematical proportions and ideological claims. These were placed at the service of political, religious or clientele power, but always with the personal stamp of his time. A necessary work as a method and guide to unravel the enigmas hidden by the great masters of art. A necessary work as a method and guide to unravel the enigmas hidden by the great masters of art.
