The year is 1642. A Dutch ship bound for Batavia has been at a standstill for days in the ocean due to an exasperating lack of wind. There's a risk of mutiny and relations on board are very tense, culminating in raw violence. The captain tries to keep the situation under control and in the meantime befriends a passenger. Together, they kill time telling each other of their past. A story emerges, related to events that had happened in Amsterdam a few years before. A painter, plagued by debt and serious personal problems, has been given the job of painting an important picture. It's Rembrandt with his most famous work, The Night Watch. It's a complex painting but time is short, also because of the war against Spain. Rembrandt ponders whether to enlist the help of his most promising assistant, Carel Fabritius. But Carel dies tragically, leaving his master in grave difficulty. There's still a glimmer of hope, however. It lies in that student who attends the artist's study under a false name. He will offer to help the master. On one condition... The stranger, however, has something else in mind: he will leave a mark that will turn the painting into the artist's most-loved work. A human portrayal of the Dutch master, passionate love stories, firm friendships, the war. But also a new interpretation of the most discussed painting in the world. In the background, a lively, pulsating Amsterdam whose characters tell the story of a unique period for the city.