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Why has Cesare Angelotti escaped from prison in Tosca?

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Art Nouveau poster by Adolfo Hohenstein for Puccini's opera Tosca, showing a woman in a gold dress standing over a fallen figure, with dramatic red and black background and bold title text. — Tosca Poster by Adolfo Hohenstein for Giacomo Puccini's opera *Tosca*, 1906.

In the opera Tosca, Cesare Angelotti is a political prisoner who has escaped from prison to avoid the clutches of Baron Scarpia, the ruthless chief of police.1

Angelotti was formerly the consul of the short-lived Roman Republic, making him a target of the authorities. His escape is facilitated by his sister, the Marchesa Attavanti, who provides him with a disguise and a hiding place in the Attavanti family chapel at the church of Sant’Andrea della Valle. Ultimately, rather than being recaptured by Scarpia's forces, Angelotti commits suicide by swallowing poison when faced with imminent capture.12