Celeste Gabriele's life has gone from wealth and privilege in the highest echelons of Venetian aristocracy to dismal poverty in the slums.
With her drunk of a father missing and her mother dead, it falls upon Celeste to protect her younger brothers and sister from starvation. When the burden becomes overwhelming, and Celeste makes plans to escape her wretched life, her wealthy aunt appears and whisks her off to work as a nanny to young Federigo Benetto. One day, as Celeste escorts Federigo to his art lesson with Maestro Luciano Vicente, the maestro discovers a sketch drawn by Celeste. He immediately recognizes her raw artistic talent and begs her to become his secret protÃ