A young restorer is commissioned to save a fresco representing the suffering of St. Sebastiano, which was painted on the wall of a local church by a mysterious, long-dead artist.

A fig tree located in the lands of a baron of the lower Po valley has for many centuries been the subject of worship. The baron, crippled and an atheist, one day sees a girl lying on the fig tree in a benevolent attitude and exchanges for the Saint Who was martyred there in the Middle Ages. Immediately the aristocrat converts and decides to give his belongings to a religious institute. In fact, he was a victim of a cheating and the "santa" is a prostitute who has given up on rage.

A modest theatrical company, soon to debut, organizes a superstitious spiritual session. During the evening the spirit of little Thomas is evoked.

The story about a sinister magician-dwarf, physically unable to love a woman. His wife's betrayals and an obsessive isolation drive him to despair.