In 17th-century Amsterdam, Sophia, an orphan, is forcibly married to rich, powerful merchant Cornelis Sandvoort, an unhappy "arrangement" that saves her from poverty. After her husband commissions a portrait, she begins a passionate affair with the painter, struggling young artist Jan Van Loos. Seeking to escape the merchant's ever-reaching grasp, the lovers risk everything and enter the frenzied tulip-bulb market, with the hope that the right bulb will make a fortune and buy their freedom.