The Alkahest

This is the story of obsession in the name of science. Balthazar, a Flemish man of good family is a devoted husband to Josephine. She's plain, has a deformity and is uneducated but he loves her and for 15 years they are very happy. And then a chance visit by a Polish officer sparks an interest in science, and he uses their family fortune in an obsessive quest for the elusive Philosopher's Stone, the alchemy to create precious metals...