Michelangelo believed every block of marble held a statue inside it. Yet he knew that without deep personal sacrifice, it would remain forever hidden. Five hundred years later, New York fashion photographer Michael Angelo Thomas falls in love with every woman who poses before his camera. He is driven to reveal what lies beneath the surface, stripping away the barrier between viewer and subject. His finished photographs reveal the vulnerable beauty of each model. His work makes him the most sought-after fashion photographer in 1994. But rather than enjoy his prestige, he lives a life of anguish, unable to form meaningful attachments or purge the demons of self-doubt and the pain of losing his adoptive parents in a freak accident. After the death of an aspiring young model that his photographs propel to international fame, he leaves New York for an assignment in Florence to photograph the world's leading fashion models. In the shadows of Michelangelo's greatest triumphs, Michael discovers a secret that will change his life and those who desire to be closest to him.