During the reign of Louis XV, the French Marquis de Sade who is fleeing from the suit for licentious behaviour that has been filed against him in Marseilles takes refuge in Venice, in the company of his mistress whom he passes off as his legitimate wife. As he regularly attends the Salons of the City instead of adopting an attitude of discretion more suited to his predicament, the Marquis promptly finds himself facing the reproaches of his mistress as well as the investigations of Venetian spies. Between eroticism and burlesque situations, this film draws a striking and surprising portrait of the libertarian mores of the eighteenth century.