The young student Ligurio returns to Florence from Paris after a long period of study. He did not just set foot in the Renaissance town falls in love with the beautiful Lucrezia, a noble woman already married to a wealthy city official: the rude, ignorant and pompous Nicias. Together with a pimp and his inept servant, Ligurio tries to conquer it, but in vain. The woman proves too chaste and faithful, yet Ligurio feels that the woman is not as it appears.