Beneath the Surface
The Making of Paintings

Have you ever looked at a painting by a great artist and wondered 'How was that made?' This book tells the story that lies behind the surface of the paintings of the old masters and takes the reader on a journey that reveals how the end results were achieved. Along the way we find out about the complexities, dangers, successes and failures of the artist's search for brilliant colours, durable tools and sensible techniques, for until very recent times it was not enough to know how to design and make a work of art, the artist also had to source and manipulate a complicated range of materials.

Guided by artist and conservator Philippa Abrahams, we follow the history of art from the drawings of Michelangelo to the works of Jackson Pollock and David Hockney. The story is punctuated by changes in materials and techniques that enabled artists to work in different ways.

Includes 10 step by step reconstructions of great works of art, from the Renaissance to the Twentieth Century.