Goltzius and the Pelican Company plot
The story takes place in 1590, when the Dutch artist Hendrick Goltzius comes to the castle on the Rhine from the Margrave of Alsace. Goltzius persuades the count to give him money so that he can buy a printing press. Goltzius wants to use this to print erotic versions of illustrated stories from the Old Testament, such as the stories of Adam and Eve, of Lot and his daughters, David and Bathsheba, Potiphar's wife, Samson and Delilah, and the story of John the Baptist and Salome from the New Testament. After completing his book, he offers the Earl to stage the illustrations at his court as a play.