Johann Mortiz Rugendas traveled from Europe to the Americas in the 1820s as an illustrator for the famed Langsdorff expedition to Brazil, generating meticulous field sketches that he published as lithographs upon his return to France. In 1831, however, he met Alexander von Humboldt and was inspired to return to the Americas, journeying by himself from Mexico to the southern tip of South America. One of numerous oil sketches and finished canvases, Vista de Valle de México con con volcanes y lago de Texcoco (View of the Valley of Mexico with Volcanoes and Lake Texcoco) is a larger work that speaks to Rugendas’ experiences as he explored the iconic Valley of Mexico and applies a Humboldtian attention to detail to the plants, geologic forms, and people he encountered.