The new book by Andrei and Svetlana Klimov is written in the genre of art detective. And when you turn the last page, the first thing that comes to mind is the “Descartes grid” - an ancient invention for reading secret writing. The verticals of times and horizontals of events and destinies of people of art, from the late Middle Ages to the present day, are intertwined into a mysterious pattern, through which half-erased signs of ancient and new tragedies appear. Nothing disappears in the past without a trace and irrevocably, and only time reveals the depth and true meaning of events that, at first glance, are not connected with each other. This is fascinating - just as it is fascinating to think that the fate of millions of people today can depend on a few words spoken five centuries ago.