Chapter Thirty-Two

Rome, 1501, Oct.30-31

Michelangelo watched spellbound as Mistress Antonia tied a priest’s stole around the woman’s eyes. “Can you see, my dear?” she asked.

As Sabrina shook her head, her pendulous breasts swayed gently from side to side.

With that, Antonia led Sabrina to one of the bags hanging from the ceiling. After spinning Sabrina three times, much to the delight of the Curia, all of who were watching here, she handed her the walking staff that resembled a crozier, she said, “You know what to do, my dear. Go ahead.”

After pausing a moment to regain her equilibrium, Sabrina swung at the bag and missed it entirely. Her momentum caused her to spin in a circle, her breasts swinging provocatively. The cardinals laughed and clapped, urging the girl on. With her second swing, she managed to deal the bag a glancing blow and the spectacle of her breasts swinging freely was repeated for all to enjoy. On her third attempt, she made solid contact and the bag split open releasing a flood of small, brown items that cascaded to the floor and rolled all over the room.

As the cardinals applauded, Antonia said, “Now, comes the real fun. Those are chestnuts scattered about the floor and whoever can pick up the most without using her hands shall win this beautiful azure tunic which Cesare has generously donated.”

Immediately, all the women, including Sabrina, began crawling about the floor. As they slithered between the candelabra, some would pause, lower themselves to the floor and then call for a cardinal to bring a cup. Others bent over backwards and gathered the chestnuts by lowering their buttocks to the floor and squeezing them between their nether regions.

Soon, the cardinals had paired off with the prostitutes of their choice and before long, some had eschewed the game entirely in favor of other more readily available pleasures.

Cardinal Sforza was relishing the oral ministrations of a Spanish courtesan, perhaps the most attractive woman of the group. Yet despite her obvious skill and his own pleasure, Michelangelo could see the cardinal’s eyes relentlessly wandering about the room, searching to see if any of his comrades had found a woman more beautiful or more talented. Such unease in the midst of such carnal pleasure marked Sforza as a man constantly looking to see if anyone had outstripped him in any respect. “You may not realize it,” thought Michelangelo, “but you will never be happy because you are envious.”

Of the Seven Deadly Sins, that was the one with which Michelangelo had struggled the most in his youth. Finally, however, he had come to see his talent for what it was - unique but nonetheless, limited. The realization had freed him, but looking at Sforza’s face, with the darting eyes and insatiable curiosity, he knew the cardinal was still driven by a desire to possess what others had and to become what others were. “You shall grace the second cameo I carve,” thought Michelangelo, “and your jealousy shall run rampant on a background of brilliant green.”

Michelangelo then turned his attention to Cardinal Briconnet, who was moving from one courtesan to another, ordering those he considered his underlings to step aside and allowing the different women to pleasure him in different ways. Watching the Frenchman indulging in all the room had to offer with little regard for the feelings of others, Michelangelo knew that Bricconet would be the embodiment of gluttony when it was time to fashion that particular cameo.

Gazing about the room through the grille, he saw the aged Cardinal Marti, reclining on a divan and pointing to various chestnuts on the floor. As the women crawled by, he would grab their private parts and they would squeal with pleasure and laugh and grab him in turn. “So now acedia has a face,” thought Michelangelo. “Marti is too lazy even to contribute to his own gratification. He shall be depicted as the personification of sloth, and I shall clothe him in the shell of a snail.”

Suddenly, Michelangelo heard a voice say, “She’s mine, you bastard.” He looked to the right and saw Cardinal Fiorza pulling a courtesan from the arms of Cardinal Rispoli.

“Why not ask her whose company she prefers?” replied Rispoli.

Fiorza raised his arm to strike Rispoli when suddenly Cesare intervened. “Brothers, there are more than enough women to go around,” he said. Then looking at Rispoli, Cesare continued, “Won’t you join me at the dais? I should like a few words with you.”

Rispoli smiled at Fiorza and said, “Take her.” As Cesare and Rispoli walked off, Michelangelo saw that Fiorza’s face was a bright crimson. Suddenly, he began to slap the courtesan on her thighs, asking in a slurred voice, “Do you like pleasure or pain or both, my dear?”

“The pope warned me about you,” thought Michelangelo. “And tonight, you have shown your true colors. Your scarlet countenance betrays you, and now I, too, have seen wrath personified.”

At that moment, the bell tinkled once again, and Antonia announced, “We have a winner! Anna, will you claim your prize?”

A young woman then stepped forward and Cesare handed her the tunic. “You are the queen of the Ballet of Chestnuts! All hail the queen!”

As the cardinals chanted, “All hail the queen,” the girl blushed and then Antonia said, “Our next contest is a rather special one.”

Flexing her arms, she said, “It requires strength,” and then spreading her hands apart slowly, she said, “as well as length.” She continued to spread her hands even further, adding “and even more length.”

To those cardinals not otherwise occupied, she said, “This is a chance to prove your virility - and there will be two winners. For the cardinal who can maintain the act the longest, the pope has promised a pair of silken slippers. And for the cardinal who can repeat the act most often, a cask from His Holiness’ private cellar.”

She continued, “Take a few moments to refresh yourselves, find a partner that pleases you and then we will begin.”

Michelangelo asked himself, is there no end to this debauchery? And he wondered how much longer this night - and the cardinals - could continue. He turned to his sketches and looking at the faces and the notes, thought, “Only two sins remain. What shall I do then?”

He heard the bell tinkling and saw that only three cardinals had decided to participate in the latest challenge. He saw that Cardinal Rispoli had taken a slim brunette for his partner while Cardinal Tossi was paired with a Moorish looking courtesan. The third participant Cardinal Malerba, a giant of a man from Sicily, had selected a rather fleshy, dark-haired beauty as his mate.

When the bell sounded a second time, each man began to thrust into his partner. Both Rispoli and Tossi lay supine and had their women mount them and do the work by controlling the pace, while Malerba had his partner kneel on the divan while he stood, taking her from behind.

After several moments, Rispoli grunted loudly as he spent himself, and despite the tender ministrations of his partner, was unable to resume. Tossi’s partner paced herself better but soon he too was done. All the while Malerba kept thrusting as his partner moaned with pleasure. When Tossi’s partner was unable to coax his flaccid member back to life, Malberba was declared the winner of both prizes. Upon hearing the proclamation, the cardinal gave a loud grunt and finished by caressing his partner to orgasm. “Thank you, Cardinal Malerba,” thought Michelangelo, “in a roomful of lechers, you stand head and shoulders above the rest.”

With Malerba chosen to represent lust, the only sin that remained was greed.

“Will you show yourself tonight?” asked Michelangelo. “Or must I improvise?”

As the coupling continued, albeit at a much more subdued pace, Michelangelo heard Cesare say, “Brothers, you may stay the night, if you so desire. But for now, our revels are ended.”

Despite the protestation of several members of the Curia and a few of the women, the servants came in and began to light the torches on the walls as they prepared to clean the room.

The cardinals were beginning to depart - some with their companion of the evening and others alone. Many stopped to express their gratitude to His Holiness, Cesare, Lucrezia and Mistress Antonia for an evening they would long remember.

“As long as you enjoyed it,” the pope said. “I shall be hearing confessions tomorrow for any and all who may feel the need of forgiveness. After all, better to be absolved of your sin now than to chance the fires of hell,” he laughed.

At that moment, inspiration struck and Michelangelo knew whose face would grace the final cameo as the depiction of greed.

Shortly thereafter, Cesare appeared behind the screen and said to Michelangelo, “There is a carriage outside that will take you home. I suggest you keep the robe on with the hood up. The fewer people that know you attended, the better.’

After Michelangelo had collected his sketches, he told Cesare, “Give my best to your father. Tell him it is an evening I shall long remember as well.”

“Perhaps next time, you will participate?” asked Cesare.

While he found the thought revolting, he said to Cesare, “Perhaps. One never knows.”

“I do not think so,” mused Cesare. “You do not have the stomach for it, signore. I can see it in your eyes.”

“Perhaps you’re right,” agreed Michelangelo.

“Just remember, silence is a virtue and one esteemed highly by the pope. We shall be in touch shortly, signore. Good luck in your endeavors.”

Feeling used and exhausted, Michelangelo could find comfort only in the fact that his subjects had been chosen, their faces and their acts committed to memory, and the work could begin in earnest in the morning. The thought that it would all soon be over made the burden that much easier to bear.