The story unfolds in the imagined world of an unnamed city, its surrounding mountains and shores and villages, in ancient, almost mythical times. A contest announced in the main square compels the two painters— the old master and his young apprentice Unicorn, to seek the perfect beauty of a woman. While the master searches in distant lands for his ideal, the apprentice chooses the girl he loves— Zorka. Through their differing perspectives, the inner power of love is revealed, a power that makes the ordinary become radiant and beautiful.