Summary

Michelangelo and Urbino arrive in Rome to find his house in tatters, a victim of the German Holy Roman Emperor’s rampaging army; but his marbles are untouched. Pope Clement dies two days later and the city erupts in joy. They blame Clement for the sacking of the city. The Florentine quarter of the city is quietly jubilant, assuming without Clement’s support, Alessandro will soon be removed from control of Florence.

Clement had asked Michelangelo to paint the Last Judgment on the wall of the Sistine Chapel, and with Clement gone, he is happy to have that burden off his shoulders. On the other hand, money is once again short, and he will need some commissions. But with the last of the Medici cardinals gone, Pope Julius’s heirs again threaten legal action over the as-yet-uncompleted tomb.

Alessandro Farnese, a cardinal who had been educated...