Did you know that the world’s largest art collection was born from a spontaneous gesture by Miguel Betancourt? In this revealing article from Artnet News, journalist Hili Perlson recounts how Luciano Benetton’s Imago Mundi project—which today features over 20,000 works by artists from all five continents—had its initial spark when the Italian entrepreneur met Miguel Betancourt.

Instead of a business card, Miguel handed Benetton a small 10×12 cm canvas. That miniature format became the seed of a global archive seeking to catalog the world’s multiplicity through art. What began as a personal encounter in Ecuador is today a universal artistic map that has toured museums in Venice, Vienna, and Rome.