Always the canvas recoils when he tries to apply the brush. How can hope be made apparent if he doesn't succeed in putting the white dove into the painting? Brentano's smile was so friendly when he, Schinkel, had made a sketch in his notebook of Brentano's impromptu story even while it was being told. And now, in oil, almost ready on the easel, he can't reach the painting with his brush …

In his feverish dreams, Schinkel struggles to complete his painting "Castle By The River"; on his sick bed, he relives his fulfilled life marked by an overwhelming sense of duty and the tragedy of the architect and artist who became a servant of his king.