The Secrets of Art: Uncovering the Mysteries and Messages of Great Works of Art by Debra N. Mancoff is a captivating exploration into the hidden layers and stories behind some of the world’s most renowned artworks. This book invites readers to delve into the intriguing world of art, uncovering secrets, hidden messages, and lesser-known tales that transform familiar masterpieces into fascinating mysteries.

Mancoff, an art historian and author, takes a detective-like approach to reveal the mysteries embedded in paintings by masters such as Leonardo da Vinci, Vermeer, Caravaggio, and modern artists like Frida Kahlo and Banksy. Through detailed analysis, the book sheds light on secret symbols, historical context, and even the use of advanced technology that uncovers hidden layers beneath the surface of these artworks. Each piece is accompanied by rich illustrations, making it accessible for both art enthusiasts and casual readers alike.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to review a temporary digital ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

I devoured this book. It was so enjoyable to get into the mind of the artist and discover the hidden jems in each artwork. Many of the artworks I had seen before but now I saw them in a different way with their secrets exposed. If you like art you will love this book. It would make a great coffee table book to look through again and again.

A very interesting book for art aficionados. The word secrets in the title may be misguiding for some. The book tells you little-known stories about forty-five works of art, ranging from ancient to modern. I admit I was unaware of several of these stories and now I appreciate these paintings more than I did before. Thank you for this review copy.

This was such a fun read. I didn't know pretty much any of this curiosities about the artworks presented and I absolutely loved knowning more about them. This is a type of book I used to read more often and reading it now definitely made me want to read more of the genre in the future.
Having studied art I wish my History of art classes would have fun stuff like this. Would recommend this book to any of my art friends.

I throughly enjoyed reading this book and learnt so much from it. I loved the pictures of the artwork selected . They were very clear and very beautiful.  Then each photo of the art work areas were highlighted and zoomed in to look in detail with descriptions of why the artists had added this detail. Also why sections where painted over as the artists changed their minds using some of arts latest science to discover interesting details.  I loved learning about there different techniques,  styles and if they were influenced by other artists. The layout really made this book brilliant. The sections are colour coded making it really easy to navigate through.  The text supporting each piece of artwork showed it was well researched and wrote. I appreciate art but am not an artist or well read on the subject and it seemed as if this book had been wrote just for me helping me understand the artists thought processes while producing the wonderful piece of artwork.  There was a vast and diverse choice of pieces to view in this book. I really enjoyed its diversity.  I especially enjoyed reading about the Banksy at the end of the book the picture that was shredded at the end of the auction.
So much praise to the author and publishing team for bringing us such a wonderful and insightful book helping readers enjoy and understand a diverse range of artwork.

Review already on netgalley posted 11/11/21 to the following places waterstones, Barnes&noble, amazon and my blog https://ladyreading365.wixsite.com/website/post/the-secrets-of-art-by-debra-n-mancoff-quarto-4-stars

The author provides an in depth look at art and the cleverly hidden meanings in some of the world’s most famous paintings. Seeing more than the initial artwork and discovering what could be hidden messages within a painting is fascinating and helps to give a greater appreciation of the artists and their work.

The secrets of Art is a fascinating tour exploring a wide variety of Art from old classical to street art. It is an amazing book full of wonderful pictures and fascinating facts and information. It is easy to spend hours lost in the beautiful images and discovering hidden details and secrets of the paintings. You will never look at famous art pieces the same again. It is a brilliant book that really encourages you to LOOK far deeper than you would have before. A must for all classrooms and coffee tables.

The Secrets of Art: Uncovering the Mysteries and Messages of Great Works of Art provides a fascinating insight into a range of famous artists and their work.

I’ve always had an interest in art but my knowledge is fairly limited, so this book allowed for a wonderful refresher on familiar artists such as Van Gogh and Banksy as well as offering an introduction to new artists to appreciate and research including Romaine Brooks and Cindy Sherman.

Debra Mancoff takes us on a journey from medieval artworks through to more modern pieces, including photography, controversial displays (such as the American Flag installation by Dread Scott) and art that has been destroyed, lost or damaged over time.

The most interesting sections were those that provided a glimpse of the secrets, hidden images and previous drafts that can lie beneath well-known artworks and the avenues that technology is opening to allow us to better understand art and its development.

A highly recommended read!

An intriguing book looking at a selection of paintings and sculptures by looking behind them, considering in some cases what lies beneath, or what is implied in an unfinished work. The photography is wonderful and the insights are interesting and free of the political correctness that mars many modern art books.

Mancoff does more than "uncover" the secrets wide range of the artworks she covers in this book, dating from the Renaissance to the 21st Century.

Although her first two chapters reveal the cutting-edge technologies that help us to find the artists' original images, covered up by grime or by moralistic censors. But as the book goes on, the 'secrets' become more prosaic: hidden symbols, the artist himself (all but only 2 or 3 images are by men) hiding in the scene, unique cuts of dress, jewels.

What I liked most about this book, however, was the rich illustrations, which pinpoint specific details-- 'secrets' that Mancoff hopes to unravel, and there are connections to other relevant paintings as well.

So often when I read an art book, I find myself googling the works themselves so I can zoom in for a closer look. I didn't have to do that with The Secrets of Art. It gave me a new appreciation for the detail and thought that has gone into some of the world's masterpieces.

(Special thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a free galley in exchange for this honest review.

Well if nothing else I should thank this book for introducing me to Piranesi's fantasy prison worlds, but there is a lot of breadth here that was most welcome. If you've seen but one art documentary on TV these days you'll know the drill – a painting will be dragged from the gallery walls or the vaults and subject to a thousand and one analytical scans, showing what came before the product as we might see it today. The book follows a very strict structure – a full-page representation of the image, a one-page essay about it, and two pages (alright, four for "The Ambassadors" and a couple of others) going into further detail and bringing what the science or the expert alone can show us to the page.

Thus a lady gains an ermine in the making of the painting, while a lass with a letter lost a cupid – we can even witness the dust that it gathered before it was painted over. That's but the start here, however, for we get 'straighter' essays too – more standard art history/appreciation pages, with the one on Bridget Riley much more on her overt technique and effect than any early draft, and ones that cannot nail any answer down (Hello, 'Las Meninas'). A chapter on contentious works that involved police cancellation, censorship or mass protest is very interesting, too – and perhaps the widest ranging when it comes to the art pieces themselves. Closing with incomplete pieces shows how we're approaching art at enjoyably peculiar angles. Classics are here, as well as unsightly daguerrotypes and pieces I've never heard of (mostly for good reason, mind), so the contents certainly don't stick to the obvious subjects. Indeed, this peels back the covers and discovers a lot – and that's exactly what we happy readers will do with these back-stories. A strong four stars.

The Secrets of Art: Uncovering the Mysteries and Messages of Great Works of Art is a thoroughly engaging and comprehensive deep dive into the hidden side of some of the worlds most prominent artworks helping to expose the mysteries, messages and symbolism behind each of them. Debra N. Mancoff is an art historian and the author of more than twenty books on European and American art and culture; she also lectures regularly at many of the major museums in the United States and Great Britain. The book offers a fresh encounter with familiar works of art, revealing untold stories, hidden meanings and surprising revelations hidden beneath the surface. Discover the secrets, mysteries, hidden meanings and stories behind famous works of art. A book full of surprises, discoveries, forgotten treasures and lost tales, The Secrets of Art takes us on a journey through the art world's mysteries to reveal that works of art are not always what they seem.

A long lost medieval masterpiece is found beneath a layer of lime wash in the Tower of London. A secret message that only an elite few can read is encoded in a painting. In a portrait, a duchess wears a gown that promotes her husband's policies and power in the guise of her style. The stories of these works, and many more, come to life in a richly informative and extensively researched book that takes us on a lively journey. Drawing upon the findings of new technology, archival research, scientific analysis and old-fashioned curiosity, Mancoff unveils the layers of meaning beneath the surfaces of well-known masterpieces in a collection of tales that are fully based in fact but are as fascinating, intriguing and engrossing as fiction. A book art lovers and casual admirers will both find appealing and, in my opinion, it is worth every penny of its purchase price. Highly recommended.

In "The Secrets of Art," Debra N. Mancoff reveals what we can learn about paintings, photographs and other art objects, in particular through modern imaging techniques that were not available to previous generations. The material is accessible even for a non-expert like myself, and I found the many stories fascinating. The introduction jumps right into an example rather than giving an overview of Ms. Mancoff's intentions, which I found a little off-putting. I wanted more context about why this book is important. However, all in all, it was a delight, and I recommend it to art and mystery lovers alike.

This is a thoroughly enjoyable beautiful book which will appeal to many an art enthousiast. The book takes you on a tour through the ages, from the middle ages to present day, discussing the secrets of artworks based on 8 individual themes. The author discusses for example what is hidden below the surface of a painting, what role censorship has played in the (de)construction of a work or the presence of secret symbols. The author doesn't restrict herself to just paintings but also discusses photography, sculpture and even performance art, from familiar artists like Van Eyck, Caravaggio, Dali and Banksy to lesser known (at least for yours truly) like Kehinde Wiley and Robert Rauschenberg.

Each page brought a smile to my face as I read the accompanying text and then studied the close-ups on details, although after a while this did become slightly formulaic: I felt that some of the works should have deserved a longer consideration to fully appreciate the background. I was quite surprised to find that even some of the pictures I consider myself fairly familiar with, having seen them multiple times, still had secrets to be revealed. However, as the author started the introduction with a discussion of the history of Rembrandt's Night Watch, the one secret I was sure to be revealed wasn't even mentioned (spoiler alert: Rembrandt has included himself in the picture somewhere). Maybe this could be the starting point for The Secret of Art Part 2?

Stunning little book uncovering the secrets behind some extremely well known works of art, along with introducing me to some I wasn't familiar with. It's packed full of fascinating stories and tidbits about how these works came to be. Whether it's alterations that happened along the way, new styles that were tried, accidents that turned into magic - there's all sorts that influeced these artworks, much of which was very unexpection.

A really inventive and interetsting way to re-engage with familiar works with new eyes. It helps that the book itself is visually beautiful and will hold a lot to interest any art enthusiast.

An interesting look at various works of art from the symbols, to works that had been altered (using modern techniques to see the underlying details), destroyed works, censorship and more. Medieval to modern works are covered.

As an artist this book did certainly have me intrigued, it's filled with interesting information about famous art pieces and analyzes them in depth, However, due to the font type, the size of the font and the formatting of the text, it was boarderline unreadable for someone with dyslexia.

Very interesting stories about classic and modern artwork releaves if not secrets, little known facts about them. Maybe something is missing, I did not find a word about Peter Greenaway's film and documentary on Rembrandt's Night watch wth the murder story. I'd have included also the marvelous Mystic Lamb of van Eyck (Ghent Altarpiece) with the stolen and still missing piece.
On the other hand, I'd have preferred not to see Abramovic with her calculated for effect provocations, the Bansky trick, the erased Kooning, the defacing of Mona Lisa by Duchamp (IMHO the typical example of those modern artists that, unable to create anything of value, destroy and try to ridiculize masterworks of classical art.

Well presented, richly illustrated.

Wow! The Secrets of Art is a fun and interactive book for art lovers of all ages. A simple, beautiful, and easy to understand guide to the hidden aspects of some of the most famous pieces of art while wrapped up in a beautifully presented book.

I’ve been to a few of the galleries and museums that display the 45 paintings or other types of masterpieces featured in this book. To think that I might have walked past without appreciating the secrets or stories that each of them hold!

What a well-written and fascinating book this is! I think it has changed forever the way that I’ll look at any major works of art. I loved the cropped and zoomed-in photos that focus on points of interest. Bravo, well done! Anyone with even just a passing interest in art will be intrigued.