Summary

The Last Judgment is opened to the general public, and to general acclaim, with the prominent exceptions of Antonio da Sangallo, the appointed architect of St. Peter’s, and Cardinal Caraffa, a hard-line zealot. Although there is public criticism, Pope Paul shows his support by giving Michelangelo two new commissions: a Conversion of Paul and a Crucifixion of Peter for the walls of the Pauline Chapel.

Cardinal Caraffa establishes a committee of inquisition, which has already established an index containing a list of books that can be printed and read and soon assumes authority for approving all works of art. Into an increasingly dangerous environment, Vittoria Colonna returns to Rome. She is looking unwell, and has come to confess repentance for questioning the church. Michelangelo wonders, “[Is] there no unity between living and dying?”

It now appears that Sangallo’s design for St. Peter’s will...