Set in the 15th century throughout the Italian states, the protagonists are part-time model and full-time prostitute Luciana Vetra and monk Father Guido della Torre as they are thrown together in Florence and chased across the country through the likes of Venice, Milan and Rome.

The title of the novel refers to a conspiracy that Luciana has stumbled across, and a code in the famous painting La Primavera by Renaissance artist Sandro Botticelli.

When her best client asked her to pose as the goddess Flora for a painting, Luciana complied until the artist abruptly sends her away without payment.

Woven into the novel like a Dan Brown code, Fiorato analyzes the painting and pulls out each of the characters that Botticelli created—not just to be seen as individuals, but as whole too.

Many Renaissance academics (including Professor Guidoni) share the same belief as Fiorato that there is a code in the painting, and its true meaning is revealed at the end of the novel - lifting a conspiracy that would last until the 19th century.