How to Start Understanding Art. The Language of the Artist

Alexander Markov - philosopher, cultural historian, professor at RGGU and VLGU, leading researcher at the Institute of World Culture of Lomonosov Moscow State University, visiting lecturer at several European and American universities. 
In his book, the author explains how to learn... to see and understand the messages of complex painted compositions, and to decipher hidden philosophical and worldview meanings. He examines how themes of iconology, the Christian world, mythological heroes, and historical figures are realized in art. For this, well-known paintings by Sandro Botticelli, Rembrandt, Titian, Leonardo da Vinci, Alphonse Mucha, and many others are chosen. At the same time, the author shows that painting is closely related to poetry, and often the artist's thought can be very accurately expressed in the poet's verse.