Adeline, a sculptor, and Pierre, a painter, have both won the Grand Prize at the Rome Salon. They marry and are overjoyed. However, Pierre has previously had an affair with the Polish Countess Wanda, who does not want to forget him and orders a painted portrait in order to be with him. During a walk in the ruins of Villa Hadriana, she seduces the painter, and Adeline, observing everything from atop the ruins, collapses with emotion, leaving her blind from now on. Her blindness is symbolic and is at the same time a psychological blockage: she has seen more than she ever wanted to see. Adeline tries to sculpt again in her studio, but she is no longer successful, so she wants to commit suicide with a revolver. However, she hears noises from her husband's studio; it is the countess trying to convince Pierre to put Adeline in a clinic so that nothing will stand in the way of their relationship. Furious, she opens the door to shoot at her rival, but being blind she fires at random. Who did she hit? She wants to recognize the victim by touch; and the urge to see the victim is so strong that her eye-blockage disappears. It is Pierre who is stricken, but he will ultimately survive because of the care that, consumed by remorse, she gives him.
—Jan BODDAERT