The essays in this large-format, generously illustrated book were inspired by two overarching examples; Velazquez and Piero della Francesca. In 19 chapters, Carlos Fuentes invites the reader to view the work of some of the greatest artists of Mexico and elsewhere in a new light; among them Mexican painters Diego Rivera, Jose Clemente Orozco, Juan Soriano, Jose Luis Cuevas, Frida Kahlo, Rufino Tamayo and Alberto Gironella, Spanish artists Eduardo Chillida, Francisco de Zurbaran and Antonio Saura, and the Colombian Fernando Botero.