AllMovie

A man who appraises art for a living investigates a band of talented but ruthless criminals in this international thriller. Patrick Donovan (Scot Williams) is an American art historian who travels to Venice at the request of Allart Van Beunigen (Rutger Hauer), the curator of one of the city's most prestigious museums, Galleria dell'Accademia. Van Beunigen wants Donovan to verify that several of his prize works are authentic and not forgeries, but one of them, Giorgione's "The Tempest," is stolen before he can give it an examination. With the city on a flood watch that could destroy the museum's priceless collection, Donovan is forced to play private eye in order to find the lost painting, and finds himself caught in a web of intrigue involving expert art forgers and privileged collectors. Among the characters who cross Donovan's path during his search are Van Beunigen's beautiful daughter Chiara (Natalia Verbeke), her elderly paramour Paul Valenzin (Malcolm McDowell), Paul's sinister personal assistant Tedeschi (Gaetano Carotenuto), sexy hotel manager Dina (Valentina Cervi), multi-millionaire art enthusiast Taddeo Rossi (Paul Guilfoyle), and a police detective (Yura Marin) whose recent investigation ties Donovan to the work of a serial killer.