The chorus parts like a curtain: bowing, backwards walking, en masse they part and go off stage, left and right, revealing at the center stage the Holy Father in his private chambers in the Vatican, sitting at his toilet, attended by Cardinals.

***

The image is

the Pre-Raphaelite painting,

“In the Venusberg” by John Collier, 1901.

Music excerpt is

Prokofiev: Lieutenant Kijé Suite,

Op. 60 - The Romance of Kijé

from the album

Prokofiev: Classical Symphony, Love For 3 Oranges, Lieutenant Kijé with conductor Lorin Maazel & Orchestre National De L'ORTF