Lucrezia, third daughter of Grand Duke Cosimo de' Medici, is a quiet and perceptive girl, with a singular talent for drawing, who enjoys her discreet and quiet place in the palazzo. But when her sister Maria dies, just before marrying Alfonso d'ESTE, eldest son of the Duke of Ferrara, Lucrezia unexpectedly becomes the center of attention: the duke rushes to ask for her hand, and her father to accept her.