A young Parisian sculptor, Cornelius Valantine, retreats to a village in the South of France to escape a failing romance and to attempt his masterwork.
There, in the medieval village of Seillans, a delusional artisan confuses Cornelius with a figure in her past, the celebrated dada artist Max Ernst. Seeking revenge for unrequited love, she sets out to slowly poison the surrogate. Cornelius, caught between recollections of his recent past and a compulsion to cast his vision into stone, cracks his masterwork on the final blow to completion. Sick and alone in Provence, the sculptor's spirit fades.
Back in Paris, his estranged lover learns of his illness and travels to Provence to help him recover his health. But the failed sculpture has left a severe emotional scar on the artist. The story culminates in a dramatic suicide pact between Cornelius and his lover, Arielle.
