Recently, David Hockney was gripped by a desire to find out how the artists of the past had managed to depict the world around them so accurately and vividly. As a painter constantly faced with similar problems, he asked himself: ‘How did they do this?’

In this sensationally successful volume, Hockney explains how he uncovered piece after piece of scientific and visual evidence and, with the benefit of his painter’s eye, he reveals how artists such as Caravaggio, Velázquez, van Eyck, Holbein, Leonardo and Ingres used mirrors and lenses to help them create their masterpieces.

Hundreds of paintings and drawings are reproduced and accompanied by Hockney’s infectious and enthusiastic descriptions together with extracts from the many documents he uncovered as intriguing evidence. His own photographs and drawings make clear the methods used by past artists.

Secret Knowledge is not just about the lost techniques of the Old Masters, it is also about now and the future. It is about how we see, treat and make images today, in an age of computer manipulation. Constantly seeking, taking nothing for granted, questioning received ideas and practice, Hockney opens our eyes to the way we perceive and represent the world.

Secret Knowledge offers a privileged insight into the history of art by an outstanding artist of our own times.

ISBN 0500237859