Rembrandt was a man soon to pass from this world and I wanted him to endure, if only inside my mind. I would make his discovery my primary quest Pieter Blaeu, a young publisher from a family of famous cartographers, meets the aged, destitute painter, Rembrandt van Rijn, on a tour of artists studios in 1667, and is quickly enticed into his theatre of life through a strange mixture of admiration and repulsion. As Pieter delves into this shadowy world, he crosses paths with a fanciful troupe of characters, both living and dead: the painters relatives, friends, sitters and patrons, whose stories are sometimes bawdy and humorous, at other times, philosophical and macabre. Meanwhile, Rembrandt is keeping a private journal, a dog-eared black tablet where he records everything from his rules of art and life to his dramas and recipesor what he calls the caprices of my restless brain. When Pieter encounters a poet named Clarawhose interest in Rembrandt equals his owna love story emerges. Together the lovers attempt to unmask an ambitious man in pursuit of a fugitive truthfrom his ascent to fame and wealth to his descent into unpopularity and povertyseeking clues about his character. If only he werent such a master at playing hide and seek.