Mediocre artist Dino is obsessed with young model Cecilia and distraught that she shares her sexual favors with him as well as with actor Luciani.

In an effort to derail her plan to vacation in Capri with his rival, Dino proposes marriage, and when Cecilia rejects his offer, he invites her to join him at the Rome estate of his domineering mother, a wealthy American, so that he can seduce her with his glamorous lifestyle.

The film was shot with the principal actors speaking English and was dubbed into Italian for its release in Italy as La noia (Boredom).

A version of the film with its original English audio track was released in the United States by Embassy Pictures in 1964 as The Empty Canvas.

In his review in The New York Times, Howard Thompson observed that "under Damiano Damiani's studied direction, the incidents move in stilted, crabwise fashion ... Miss Davis ... is truly a sight, looking like a Pekingese under a blonde bob and growling an atrocious Southern accent ... At times, especially under-scored by Miss Davis's withering expression and lava lingo, the picture's overripe sexuality is downright funny.