Italy, 1502. Ten-year-old Matteo is saved from drowning by friends of Leonardo da Vinci. The artist and scholar takes the boy under his wing. Matteo accompanies him both as he pursues knowledge and paints magnificent pictures and as he travels across Italy. Soon his story continues. Serving Leonardo da Vinci, seeing first hand the ruthless rule of Cesare Borgia, the ambition of the Medici and the revenge of the dell'Orte. Florence, Milan, Castell Barta and many other places in Renaissance Italy.