How to Read a Painting: Decoding, Understanding and Enjoying the Old Masters by Patrick de Rynck

Unlocking the hidden symbolism of Renaissance art

Very Good Condition – light shelf wear with minor rubbing and edge wear to the cover.

Classicist Patrick De Rynck decodes more than 150 masterpieces by Old Masters like Giotto, Botticelli, Bruegel, Rubens and Vermeer, unpacking the Christian theology, Greek and Roman mythology, and folklore that Renaissance viewers understood instinctively but modern audiences often miss. Each painting gets a full-color spread with close-up details and a clear breakdown of its symbols, characters and meaning, from Fra Angelico's The Annunciation to Goya's The Third of May, 1808. A richly illustrated, genuinely illuminating companion for museum visits, art history enthusiasts, or anyone who wants to actually understand what they're looking at in a gallery of Old Master paintings.