Malatesta is a play by the French writer Henry de Montherlant, written in 1943–1944 and first published in 1946.

Malatesta is furious and goes to Rome to assassinate the Pope, but ends up accepting an honorary office in the Vatican.

The sacrilegious and immoral hero ties in with Henry de Montherlant's typically preferred protagonist.

[1] He exemplifies what Montherlant called alternance, which refers to the contrary aspects found within the same character: Malatesta is simultaneously able to kill casually and show tender human emotions, and simultaneously flirts with many women and is attached to his wife.

[2] The hero's demise ties in with Friedrich Nietzsche's writings about the superior man and his greater vulnerability when compared to the herd man, and the period setting correlates with Nietzsche's admiration for the Renaissance period.