When Victorine Laurent joins the chorus of the grand Paris Opera ballet, she expects to become the mistress of a wealthy man; this is how young women without family survive in the decadent City of Light. Yet when the artist Degas introduces her to Edouard Manet, her life changes dramatically. She agrees to pose for him, and the result is a painting that shocks Paris. Overnight, Victorine becomes the city's most sought after courtesan.

When she becomes the favorite of the Duke de Lyon, the power behind the shaky government of Emperor Louis-Napoleon, her continued attraction to Manet...