In the final year of his life, Rembrandt painted a series of self-portraits that show him in a dark, lonely state of mind. Stelling has painstakingly recreated the pathetic end of a genius with an authenticity that allows viewers to infer their own conclusions about the relationship between Rembrandt's life and art.

After being chased from her uncle's home by her scolding aunt, the young Mariken wanders outside of town and encounters Moenen, the devil disguised as a one-eyed, itinerant scholar, who offers to teach her magic and the seven liberal arts in return for her submission.