A reclusive lighthouse worker accepts the offer to swap jobs with a police inspector for a while, just to help him catch Teston, the so-called criminal of criminals.

Set in the Middle Ages the film tells the story of a wonder child, the little sculptor Wawrzek, who goes to work for a great master, Wit Stwosz. The story culminates in the unveiling of Stwosz's greatest masterpiece, the Altar of St. Mary's Church in Cracow.

Joanna, the daughter of quite wealthy traders from the Różycki bazaar, is in love with Andrzej, a young, talented, but poor painter. However, the girl's father, Kazimierz Burczyk, decides to find a suitable husband for her himself. A shrewd tradesman, unwilling to disclose his income, searches for a candidate whose professional position would justify his possession of a villa, a car and many other material possessions. In the end, his choice falls on Andrew, who is unsuccessfully trying to sell paintings under the walls of Warsaw's Barbican.

In the early 19th century, the legendary Tatra brigand Janosik defies the oppressive local nobility and Austrian troops by robbing the rich to give to the poor, becoming a folk hero among the peasants.