Florence, April 1478.  The handsome Giuliano de' Medici, brother of Lorenzo the Magnificent, is brutally assassinated in Florence's majestic Duomo.  The shock of the murder is felt throughout the great city, from the most renowned artists like Leonardo da Vinci to a wealthy wool merchant and his exquisitely elegant wife.  The Medici family is the lifeblood of the city, and the death of one of its golden heirs will be felt throughout time, but nowhere more so than in the life of that wool merchant's daughter: the strikingly beautiful Madonna Lisa. 

More than a decade later, Florence falls under the dark spell of the preacher Savonarola, a fanatic who burns paintings, books, and scuptures as easily as he sends men to death.  Lisa, now grown into an alluring woman, captures the heart of Giuliano's nephew and namesake. When he, too, meets a tragic end, Lisa must show extarodinary courage and gather all of her cunning and charm to untangle the sinister web of illicit love, treachery, and dangerous secrets that threatens her life.  For hundreds of years, the intriguing truth remained hidden behind history's most famous smile...until now.