Italy, the age of Humanism. Now an old man, Pace di Buoninsegna relates the story of his life, from his youthful apprenticeship in the workshop of the artist Giotto in Florence, through his subsequent travels throughout Italy and Europe in pursuit of his aim to pass down his name to Posterity through the execution of his craft.
Diverted repeatedly from this aim by portentous comets, political upheavals, millennial crusades, the Black Death, avalanches, massacres, and by doubts about his own sanity and ability, under the guidance of his childhood friend Domenico he finally comes to see a way to achieve his goal.