In 1943, the Allies of World War II are making good progress driving back the Axis powers in Italy. Frank Stokes persuades Franklin D. Roosevelt that victory will have little meaning if the artistic treasures of Western civilization are lost. Stokes is directed to assemble an Army unit nicknamed the "Monuments Men," comprising museum directors, curators, art historians, and an architect, to both guide Allied units and search for stolen art to return it to its rightful owners.