In 1630s Amsterdam, tulip fever has seized the populace. Everywhere, men are seduced by the exotic flower and the riches it can bring. But for wealthy merchant Cornelis Sandvoort, his young, beautiful wife, Sophia, is the prize he desires, the woman he hopes will bring him the joy that not even his fortune can buy. Cornelis yearns for an heir, but so far he and Sophia have failed to produce one. In a bid for immortality, he commissions a portrait of them both by the talented young painter, Jan Van Loos. But as Van Loos begins to capture Sophia's likeness on canvas, a slow passion begins to burn between the beautiful wife and the artist. As the portrait unfolds, so a slow dance is begun among the household's inhabitants. Ambitions, desires, and dreams breed a grand deception -- and as the lies multiply, events move toward a thrilling and tragic climax.