The Valley of Mexico from the Hill of Santa Isabel

What you see

From a hill of reddish rocks, the view opens onto an immense valley. At lower left, a woman in a red skirt with a basket on her back walks beside a boy in white and a dog. Beyond lie a dark hill, a pond and a plain that stretches toward the lakes and two snowcapped volcanoes.

The warm browns of the foreground cool into blues and lilacs in the distance, which is how the depth is built. On the right, towering clouds catch the sun while a gray curtain of rain falls beneath them. Look for the straight roads crossing the plain and a thin thread of smoke far off.