Unbeknownst to the 19th-century Greek "primitive" painter Theofilos, other painters around the world at the time were also exploring non-academic subjects, focusing on the everyday lives of ordinary persons. In the U.S., the group of painters who chose such subjects were dubbed "the Ashcan school." Though Theofilos remained unknown in his lifetime, this biographical drama explores the painter's life from his birth on the Isle of Lesbos (Lesvos) in 1868 to the time when he developed his characteristic style, following his discharge from the Greek army.

Crete 1897. Greek rebels gained their freedom by fighting in the mountains. An allied fleet of French, English, Italian and Russian warships anchored in the port of Chania in protecting Greek and Turkish inhabitants. Rosa Bonaparte, accompanied by twelve girls off at a deserted beach with all the equipment of a Marseille brothel. Installed in a wing of a huge, ruined former Town Hall, where the officers of the allied fleet meet and entertain in the evenings surrounded by undercover agents, military connectors, and speculators : an East-West mosaic of languages, costumes and intrigue ...