Why is art necessary? And what is the immeasurable value of the masterpieces of world culture, if many years ago, during the Great Patriotic War, the Hermitage staff did everything to save them? Over a million exhibits were evacuated in just one week. And they are safely hidden in the Urals, in the city where another Hermitage center has opened today. In the film, the events of three times. The 17th century is the moment of the creation of the unique painting “The Return of the Prodigal Son”, the 20th century is the terrible war and the famous Nuremberg trials of German war criminals and, finally, the Hermitage, its keepers and youth in the 21st century, which will have to figure it out in many ways.