Participants begin with the most debated triptych in Western art, organizing its three panels between Paradise, the earthly realm, and Hell. The challenge requires identifying the symbols El Bosco used to document the fire that destroyed his city and the coded critique of venereal disease he hid within the figures.

The group follows Charon across the mythological river that divides salvation from damnation in Patinir's landmark landscape painting. The investigation focuses on locating Cerberus at the gates of the underworld and analyzing how the artist fused Christian theology with Greek mythology in a single composition.

Two works by Velázquez anchor the central section of the tour. In Las Meninas, participants decode the mirror reflection, the gaze of the painter, and the identity of the mysterious object in the Infanta's hands. The portrait of Felipe IV then reveals evidence of a royal retouching scandal where Velázquez digitally corrected the king's proportions centuries before software existed.

Titian's celestial composition conceals the artist's own likeness among Biblical and imperial figures in a personal plea for eternal redemption. El Greco's Annunciation follows, where participants identify the Greek signature the painter used as a private marker and examine the interrupted moment captured mid-scene.

Goya's monumental royal portrait challenges participants to locate a figure whose portrait was deliberately omitted and to identify the shadowed self-portrait of the artist himself positioned at the edge of the canvas, echoing the compositional strategy of Velázquez before him.

The tour concludes with Rubens' festive celebration of courtly love, where a specific creature symbolizes matrimony and a hidden self-portrait places the artist among his own guests. Participants tally their points and the group reviews the full chain of enigmas solved across the three hours.