1178, Parma, Italy. Benedetto Antelami completes a monumental relief sculpture in red marble depicting the Depositio, or Descent from the Cross, to be displayed in a prominent position in Parma Cathedral. 1994, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France. A version or copy of the Deposition comes to light in a stoneworker's workshop. Broken in two, it has been roughly repaired. How did it get there? Who made it? How did it get broken? Who repaired it? In a fascinating blend of fact and fiction, over a timescale ranging from medieval Italy to Renaissance France and the present day, Romano Ferrari imagines the answers to those questions. Combining erudition with the narrative drive of a skilled storyteller, his tale brings distant times and places to vibrant life in the reader's imagination. "Habeant anathema et maledictione…" May they be damned and cursed... Yes, but who? And why?