The volume examines the painting research, spanning about four decades, conducted by Renato Guttuso.
He was a figure in the forefront of Italian art from the late-20th century and an absolutely prominent player in the setting of fervent debates enlivening that period.

This volume has gathered together a representative sample of the works that best illustrate the artist's will to provide shape and substance to an art form of civil commitment: from Fucilazione in campagna (Execution by Gunshot in the Countryside, 1938) to the drawings of Gott mit Uns (God with Us, 1944); then continuing during the 1960s with Documentario sul Vietnam (Documentary on Vietnam, 1965) and Giovani innamorati (Young Lovers, 1968), the symbol of equal, revolutionary love; and, later, with Funerali di Togliatti (Funeral of Togliatti, 1972) that is a compendium of the history of struggles and hopes of a population, together with the reasons behind the political activism of a man and of an artist.

In close proximity with this production, the volume also proposes traditional painting subjects and a precious collection of hardly-known works - which are in some cases absolutely unprecedented.