A fascinating miscellany of facts, quotes and tales. Dip in or find yourself engrossed in an alternative tour of the great art and artists in the National Gallery, London.

This is not your usual art gallery guide. Instead, this volume gets you up close and personal to individual masterpieces in the National Gallery. Meet some of the colourful characters captured in portraits and the people who brought these treasures to the National Gallery. Read about the painting that took flight down a mountainside, the portrait which made a cameo appearance in a James Bond film, the paintings that conceal paintings, only discovered years later.

This book unlocks the hidden history of masterpieces in the National Gallery, until now buried in larger books, articles or archives. Immerse yourself in a treasury of facts, discoveries and anecdotes. Many are touching, some highly amusing, while others are surprising, but all are addictive reading.

If the Paintings Could Talk presents these accounts in an A–Z format, richly illustrated and skilfully cross-referenced with other entries in the book, leading art lovers on an intriguing journey.