With Jacopo’s help, Don Camillo’s companions rescue Violetta and escape from Venice, overcoming the Senate’s schemes and pursuit to reach freedom. Jacopo remains behind, is arrested, and is condemned for Antonio’s murder, while Gelsomina and Father Anselmo plead with the Doge to recognize his innocence and sacrifice. Although the Doge realizes the truth, he cannot overturn the will of the ruling few, and Jacopo is executed before an unsympathetic crowd, revealing that Venetian law and justice are merely masks protecting oligarchic power.