  I review some key aspects of the ongoing progress in our understanding of the
infrared dynamics of the QCD Green's functions, derived from the close synergy
between Schwinger-Dyson equations and lattice simulations. Particular attention
is dedicated to the elaborate nonperturbative mechanisms that endow the
fundamental degrees of freedom (quarks and gluons) with dynamical masses. In
addition, the recently established connection between the effective interaction
obtained from the gauge sector of the theory and that needed for the veracious
description of the ground-state properties of hadrons is briefly presented.
