This film, based on the life and work of accomplished Italian mannerist painter Francesco Salviati (1510–1563), describes the splendor of the princely courts of 16th-century Italy, against a background of political and religious crisis. The film travels between Florence, where the artist was born, and Rome, where he died, on the trail of his sacred and secular paintings. It was made on the occasion of the exhibition "Francesco Salviati or La Bella Maniera" (Musée du Louvre, April 30 – June 29, 1998), curated by Catherine Monbeig Goguel and Michel Hochmann.