This article refers to the importance of Colombian cultural periodical publica­tions in the configuration of a national identity in the development of the literary system. Besides, it refers to the relevance images acquired when belonging to those publications. A specific analysis of the journal Reading and Art, one of the first illustrated journals in the country, relevant in the Antioquian and Colombian relevant field is carried out; its objectives, its desire to have readers, the function of images in relation to the text, and the function of art as an educating element with a specific aesthetic intention are analyzed.