1608. A felucca sails silently in the night along Sicily's east coast, heading towards Porto Laccio. On board is an injured, feverish man. Once the ship docks he's carried to the Capuchin convent, a safe hiding place. The man is Michelangelo Merisi, also known as Caravaggio.
Fleeing from the wrath of the Knights of Malta, he survives thanks to the monks and with the help of friends and patrons gets back to work. Here he meets Luce, who poses for him and makes his heart race. But a bad omen follows the painter. “I can feel the danger, death is coming for me”, he tells his friend Mario Minniti, “I have many enemies”. All around him horrific crimes keep happening. A killer roams the city streets, maybe searching for him.