The Beautiful Corpses

One Secret Changes Everything

The Black Plague took his wife and young children. Painter Antoine de Rembule endured his passionless life until fate delivered inspiration in the form of Chloe. His stark and honest vision of his love for her reignited his creative passion and he painted again. His raw depictions of sex and beauty made him a target of the Catholic Church.

Nicknamed the "Renaissance Pornographer", most of Rembule's paintings are vivid and explicit depictions of sex. But Rembule's work isn't exclusively carnal. One image, in particular, is the most haunting - a child's eyes staring desperately out of the painting, pleading for the end to suffering. The modern discovery of thirteen Rembule paintings hidden in a French abbey ignites a cultural firestorm. No human eyes have seen his paintings for 800 years. Until now.

The Adler Art Museum in Boston is chosen to restore the heavily damaged work. Cate Bennett's career as an art restorer began at the Adler. Trapped in a loveless marriage, Cate began a passionate affair with fellow restorer Peter Dauphin. Their wild romance ended abruptly when Cate became pregnant with her husband's baby. Seventeen years later, Cate's marriage has ended and Peter is in charge of the restoration of the Rembule paintings. Despite their past, Peter knows Cate is the one person who can bring Rembule's vision back to life.

As Cate exposes Rembule's terrifying and beautiful history layer by layer, she and Peter rekindle their own sexual passion. Rembule's paintings turn everything known about the Renaissance on its head. Cate's intimate connection to Rembule threatens to destroy her own life.

Fueled by Rembule's erotic masterpieces and her own tortured past, Cate learns that creation always demands a sacrifice.