A classical torso of a female figure emerges as though in telescopic form, or like a Russian nesting doll, with each of the three segments nestled within another. René Magritte is best known for his Surrealist paintings, which place ordinary objects in unusual contexts, often giving new meanings to familiar things. Created in 1967, Delusions of Grandeur is one of a series of large bronzes, which Magritte produced at the end of his life with the encouragement of his friend and dealer Alexander Iolas (1907–1987). The artist enlarged and reduced this bronze with more of the figure seen in the smallest segment and less in the largest, creating a dizzying sense of rushing scale.