Allain deGravelles, 18, a young and naive American from New Orleans, arrives in Paris in February of 1848 to attend the famous École Polytechnique. At the engineering school, he finds himself attracted to an upperclassman, Louis Candat, who harbors the same desire as himself, that of becoming an artist.

This story of a young man willing to pay any price to become an artist will not be an easy one to forget.