- Alfonso di Calabria: [aiming his crossbow at Cesare's back] If I killed you right here, all of Italy would treat me as a hero.
- Cesare Borgia: [turning around] But you are not a hero, Alfonso. And only men like you,
- [resumes walking away]
- Cesare Borgia: who like true courage, want me dead.
- Cesare Borgia: The Son of God seems to find much peace in death. Perhaps because He no longer bears the burden of leading men out of darkness.
- Riario Sansoni: Art is the handmaiden of theology.
- Michelangelo: Art is the sister of theology. And sometimes sisters cry.
- Dorotea Malatesta: I have never seen my father cry.
- Cesare Borgia: Becoming a father is easy enough. Being one proves more difficult.
- Michelangelo: [debating in front of a raw block of marble] There is no Goliath inside the stone.
- Leonardo da Vinci: If there is no Goliath, there is no David.
- Michelangelo: And there lies the fallacy. The marble holds David alone - before battle.
- Leonardo da Vinci: Holiness, if David is depicted without Goliath, there is no indication the subject *is* David. It would be the carving of an ordinary man.
- Michelangelo: True beauty lies not in victory, but in the hope of victory. Hope shines forth in the fleeting moment before David chooses to a simple stone. When weakest he puts his trust in the Lord. This marble holds an ordinary man, yes, transformed by his leap of faith. He should be celebrated for fidelity, not for brutality.
- Rodrigo Borgia: If you succeed, Buonarroti, so does mankind. Begin work today.
- Rodrigo Borgia: You have caused great pain to us Borgia. Does not our grief deserve an explanation?
- Tommaso albanese: Alfonso married into your family. You are the Pope, so perhaps he was good to you, or you ignored his actions. Did you ever once see how he treated those under him? Do you even notice those under you? He whipped me. He broke my arm, not because I did wrong, but because he felt pleasure in hurting me. But you did not know that.
- [to Cesare]
- Tommaso albanese: And you, did not know that. Such matters are not part of your unceasing lust, gluttony, and greed.
- Rodrigo Borgia: The guilty always accuse the judge.