Gino, the Countess & Chagall

Gino, born on a tiny farm near Florence, Italy, grows into young manhood with the build of a tall, powerful athlete, the chiseled face of a movie idol and the graceful, sensual hands of a Michelangelo. He rises from painting at a tiny monastery to assisting modern masters restore great frescos and create new murals, to eminence as a world renowned painter in Paris, acclaimed such artists as Marc Chagall and Pablo Picasso, Jean Paul Sartre and Andre Malraux. Throughout his life, Gino is dogged by the dark and devious Pietro Scegli, a brutal, vicious man who carries terrible secrets and bears a mysterious and dangerous relationship to Gino, his beautiful and vulnerable sister, Maria, and his murdered, Fascist father. Pietro's jealousy and hatred are threats to Gino's very existence. But Gino is never far from romance; his sensational artistic talent is matched only by his powerful appeal to women. His affairs range from a lyrical romp with beauteous Giulia, daughter of the Florentine industrial potentate who has unknowingly financed his work, to a tempestuous, yet profound, romance with the fabulously wealthy and elegant Ariane, Comtesse de Villon, to overwhelming, redeeming passion with lovely, young Monique who turns his life from sterile desperation to a dazzling rebirth of hope and talent. At last, Gino must face long hidden and life threatening truths. Will he triumph over scandal, hatred and evil, or be vanquished by the ominous forces that have shadowed his life?