The lives of two people, separated by centuries, are drawn together as the mystery surrounding a portrait believed to be an undiscovered work by a Renaissance master is unraveled. Megan Ellsworth, an art historian with a past she'd rather forget, is offered the opportunity to research the origins of a portrait purchased by an entrepreneur. With the help of an army reserve officer who handles odd jobs for the entrepreneur, a man so different than any she'd ever worked with before, Megan finds herself drawn into a story that winds its way through the Byzantine world of late Renaissance politics, a time of great beauty set against a backdrop of unimaginable brutality. Along the way, the subject of the portrait takes on a life that mesmerizes her, for she slowly comes to appreciate she and a young woman dubbed "The English Courtesan" are, in so many ways, alike.