Summary
In the sun-drenched, salt-crusted periphery of an Italian coastal idyll, the venerable sculptor Donata di Marchesi labors over his magnum opus, 'The Island Goddess,' an ethereal limestone effigy for which his daughter, Diana, provides the corporeal blueprint. This domestic tranquility is punctured by the arrival of Count Gabrielle, Donata’s nephew—a man whose aristocratic veneer barely masks a hollow core of fiscal profligacy and predatory opportunism. Recognizing the immense pecuniary value of his uncle’s impending masterpiece, Gabrielle orchestrates a calculated seduction of the guileless Diana, ensnaring her in a web of romantic artifice. Concurrently, the arrival of Prince Marko, a man of discernment and substantial moral weight, complicates the emotional landscape; Marko finds himself captivated not by the cold stone of the goddess, but by the vital spirit of the model herself. Having previously unearthed Gabrielle’s penchant for financial malfeasance—specifically the forgery of Marko’s own signature—the Prince finds himself in a position of leveraged intervention. Upon discovering the pair’s impending elopement, Marko offers a Faustian bargain: he will suppress the evidence of Gabrielle’s crimes and relinquish the forged instruments of debt if the Count vanishes from Diana’s life. Following the sculptor’s demise, a grief-stricken Diana finds solace in Marko’s steadfastness, eventually ascending to his station through marriage. However, the ghosts of the past resurface in the marble halls of Rome when a desperate Gabrielle attempts to extort the Prince. Diana, inadvertently eavesdropping on this transactional confrontation, misconstrues the nature of their original pact, interpreting her marriage as a mere acquisition of the 'Goddess' rather than an act of love. In a paroxysm of disillusionment, she shatters the sculpture—her own likeness—and retreats to her ancestral island. The ensuing confrontation between Marko and Gabrielle atop a precipitous cliff concludes in a visceral struggle; though Marko is grievously wounded, he manages to cast the extortionist to his doom. In the delirium of a brain fever brought on by his injuries, Marko’s sanity hangs by a thread, tethered only to the image of the lost statue. In a final act of transcendent devotion, Diana drapes herself in silk and assumes the rigid stillness of the Goddess, becoming the very icon Marko craves. This living tableau serves as the catalyst for his psychic restoration, merging the artistic ideal with the living woman in a climax of sacrificial beauty.
Synopsis
The elderly Italian sculptor Donata di Marchesi has his beautiful daughter Diana pose for his last masterpiece, "The Island Goddess." When Donata's profligate nephew Count Gabrielle realizes the sculpture's value, he courts Diana and she falls in love with him. Prince Marko visits to view the statue and he falls in love with Diana. Because he earlier had discovered that Gabrielle forged his name on checks, when Marko learns that Gabrielle and Diana are about to elope, he agrees not to denounce Gabrielle and to tear up the checks if he leaves. After Diana's father dies, she marries Marko. Later, in Rome, Gabrielle comes to extort money from Marko. Diana overhears them and learns about their deal. Thinking that Marko only wanted the statue, she breaks it and returns to the island. Marko and Gabrielle follow and fight on a cliff, then, after Gabrielle knifes Marko, Marko pushes him to his death. Marko lies critically ill for days with his brain affected, until Diana, enwrapped in silk, poses as the statue. Marko revives and embraces her.
