In 1966, not long before the flood arrives that devastates the city, an unsolved rape takes place in the crypt of a deconsecrated church that rocks the English community in Florence.

A generation later the church has become an atelier run by the American artist Jared Regis who is working on a large religious painting and teaches the techniques of the old masters. When a barrister arrives in Florence, referring to his last client as the Prince of Darkness, and claims to have knowledge of the rape, Jared''s life takes a menacing turn and three of his students will be forced to ask questions about their heritage.