An old Dutch painting disappears from the abbey of Umbria. Four centuries ago, the painter Dirk van Nister received a substantial inheritance that allowed him to travel across the globe, until he met a mysterious character who commissioned a portrait from him.

During the investigation into the theft, Detective Dantas discovers details from van Nister's life that seem to be strangely related to terrible murders that have been committed in the city. Over the course of his inquiries, Dantas contacts a bookseller called Montenegro, behind whose figure the presence of van Nister himself seems to be hiding.

'Umbria' demonstrates Antonio Calzado's uncommon talent for entangling the reader in an absorbing plot, pulsing with the concerns that have proccupied man since the dawn of time.