Seventeenth-century Amsterdam is a city in the grip of tulip mania basking in the wealth it has generated. Sophias husband Cornelis an ageing merchant is among those grown rich from this exotic new flower. To celebrate he commissions a talented young artist to paint him with his young bride. But as the portrait grows so does the passion between Sophia & the painter; & as ambitions desires & dreams breed an intricate deception their reckless gamble propels their lives towards a thrilling & tragic conclusion.