The Restoration of Us

You have always preferred the company of centuries-old paintings to living people. Canvas doesn't lie, and pigment doesn't leave. As a specialist brought to Florence to restore a severely damaged Renaissance masterpiece, you expect nothing more than long hours under the harsh studio lights and the quiet hum of the air filters. But you aren't working alone. Beside you is Matteo, a brilliant but intensely guarded local conservator who views your modern techniques with deep skepticism. Forced to share a single, cramped workspace over one humid Italian summer, every touch of the brush and shared glance over the magnifying lens begins to chip away at the varnish protecting your own hearts. As the painting's hidden secrets begin to surface, so do the vulnerabilities you both have spent years trying to conceal. Amidst the soft shadows of the bottega and the golden Florentine evenings, you must decide if some things are worth risking everything to restore.