Prague, 1577. Giuseppe Arcimboldo, the court painter, is divided between the pleasures and the diplomatic vicissitudes, until the young Rudolph II comes to the fore of the Asburgo, who, instead of fulfilling the task assigned as the new emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, disperses himself in vices and lazing around. The echoes of what happens in Bohemia arrive to Vienna from where, under false pretenses, comes Mattia, the brother, that does his best to ban the emperor. Involved in the dispute for power, he uses every trick to keep at bay the fratricidal clashes between Catholics and Lutherans becoming the deciding part in all the intrigues at the palace.