An anthology of painters and paintings which includes contemporary accounts of Watteau, Monet, Rubens, the final meeting between Reynolds and Gainsborough, and many others. There are reflections by painters on creativity and the tribulations of the creative life. It includes Constable's remarks on a de Hooch painting which has been presented to him, Matisse's summary of his creative vision and art dealer Rene Gimpel's contrast of Fra Angelico and Gentile de Fabriano.