All in the detail - BBC Culture

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All in the detail

Although Laocoön's facial expression has been criticised for inaccuracy, it could in fact allow the sculpture to reveal conflicting emotions simultaneously (Credit: Alamy)

The revealing detail in an ancient find

By Kelly Grovier

(Credit: Alamy)

A coded symbol hidden in a masterpiece

By Kelly Grovier

(Credit: Alamy)

The ultimate forbidden fruit? A lemon

By Kelly Grovier

Angelico used the illusion of a vanishing point to draw our eyes towards a barred window behind Mary (Credit: Getty Images)

The hidden meaning of a barred window

By Kelly Grovier

The sculpture carefully delineates an earring that attracts our attention (Credit: Alamy)

All in the detail

The 2700-year-old 'fake news'

By Kelly Grovier

(Credit: Alamy)

All in the detail

The detail that unlocks the Mona Lisa

By Kelly Grovier

(Credit: Wikimedia Commons)

The detail that decodes a masterpiece

By Kelly Grovier

(Credit: Alamy)

A detail hidden in a masterpiece

By Kelly Grovier

(Credit: National Gallery)

The toilet humour in an art masterpiece

By Kelly Grovier

The Birth of Venus (Credit: Getty)

Odd details hidden in masterpieces

By Kelly Grovier

(Credit: The Samuel Courtauld Trust, The Courtauld Gallery, London)

A symbol planted in a woman’s cleavage

By Kelly Grovier

(Credit: Louvre)

A subversive message hidden by Da Vinci

By Kelly Grovier

American gothic crop 2

Seven surprising hidden meanings in art

By Kelly Grovier