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.

The segment focuses on Messalina, wife of the Emperor Claudius, who owned a villa on the site of Villa Medici. We catch a glimpse of tunnels and rooms beneath the villa, which were used by Ferdinando de' Medici to imprison Asian slaves when they weren't at work on a garden meant to evoke Mount Parnassus.

Gualtiero Marchesi talks about the chef as an artist, and how different chefs can be recognized by their distinctive artistic styles. In defending the choice of simple, genuine food, he goes on to talk about the art of slicing, and how it used to be "performed" right in the dining room.