Young Michele thus enters into the service of Cardinal Francesco Maria del Monte, man of culture and art connoisseur. All he has to do is what he does best: paint.

We learn of the death of Francesco Cenci from a conversation between the Cardinal and one of his guests. Michele arrives too, at a reception, where his latest painting is on display. He makes an impression as someone who speaks his mind.

Michele goes back to the tavern Ranuccio and Fillide frequent. He challenges Ranuccio.

Caravaggio (as he begins calling himself) and Ranuccio play real tennis. Who's going to win?

Michele finishes his painting of Fillide and they have a moment to get to know each other better.

Michele is at dinner at Fillide's home. The conversation turns to a grim story of patricide involving someone he knows and he can't let it go. Things get out of hand.

Michele returns to the palace but the Cardinal is not happy. Beatrice is on trial at the papal court and is trying to defend herself.

Michele is distraught about Beatrice Cenci but at this point, there is nothing he can do. He confides in Costanza Colonna, who warns him to keep his ideas to himself.

When one retires, it can free up time as well as one's mind, providing an opportunity to experiment and find out what is important. Armando, who worked as an architect before retirement, uses photography to explore the circle of life in nature.

Little by little, we discover Armando's fascination with oxidation. It seems to have started by looking at advertising billboards.

Armando tells us how the designs he is fascinated by come to be. It all has to do with billboards, and how they are marked up, torn, and over time, oxidized. The oxidation process is fascinating.

Armando begins describing the structure of his book, and talks about how he envisions a kind of journey, beginning in the far reaches of the universe, down to the tiny details of a flower.

In this segment, describing chapters 3 - 6, we can imagine storms, volcanoes, oceans, and mountains in Armando's photographs.

In chapter. 7, Armando describes how, to him, his images represent vegetation, woodlands, trees, and flowers.

Not only are Armando's photographs reminiscent of the universe and nature — they also recall other works of art from history.