Editing Tosca (section)

=== Act 3 ===
''The upper parts of the [[Castel Sant'Angelo]], early the following morning''
[[File:La piattaforma di Castel Sant'Angelo, bozzetto di Luigi Bazzani per Tosca (s.d.) - Archivio Storico Ricordi ICON010472.jpg|thumb|''La piattaforma di Castel Sant'Angelo'', set design for act 3 (undated)]]
A shepherd boy is heard offstage singing (in [[Romanesco dialect]]) "Io de' sospiri" ("I give you sighs") as church bells sound for [[matins]]. The guards lead Cavaradossi in and a jailer informs him that he has one hour to live. He declines to see a priest, but asks permission to write a letter to Tosca. He begins to write, but is soon overwhelmed by memories: "[[E lucevan le stelle]]" ("And the stars shone").

Tosca enters and shows him the safe-conduct pass she has obtained, adding that she has killed Scarpia and that the imminent execution is a sham. Cavaradossi must feign death, after which they can flee together before Scarpia's body is discovered. Cavaradossi is awestruck by his gentle lover's courage: "O dolci mani" ("Oh sweet hands"). The pair ecstatically imagine the life they will share, far from Rome. Tosca then anxiously coaches Cavaradossi on how to play dead when the firing squad shoots at him with blanks. He promises he will fall "like Tosca in the theatre".

Cavaradossi is led away, and Tosca watches with increasing impatience as the firing squad prepares. The men fire, and Tosca praises the realism of his fall, "Ecco un artista!" ("What an actor!"). Once the soldiers have left, she hurries towards Cavaradossi, urging him, "Mario, su presto!" ("Mario, up quickly!"), only to find that Scarpia betrayed her: the bullets were real. Heartbroken, she clasps her lover's lifeless body and weeps.

The voices of Spoletta, Sciarrone, and the soldiers are heard, shouting that Scarpia is dead and Tosca has killed him. As the men rush in, Tosca rises, evades their clutches, and runs to the parapet. Crying "O Scarpia, avanti a Dio!" ("O Scarpia, we meet before God!"), she [[jumper (person)|flings herself]] over the edge to her death.