BOOK PRESENTATION

Presentation of Francesca Basso’s debut novel:

"L'ultima corda di violino" (The Last Violin String) – featuring Arnold Böcklin.

Joining the author will be:

Riccardo Piazza (moderator)

Valeria Cirone (event curator)

Alberto Marrapese (composer)

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#focusON 🎻

The year is 1863. Swiss painter Arnold Böcklin is in Rome for his second stay in Italy. While known and appreciated in artistic circles, he has not yet achieved the level of renown he desires.

One day, however, he secures a meeting with the wealthy and powerful Lord Carl Michael Worthington-Ascott Grey—the British ambassador to Rome and an affable patron of the arts. Lord Grey is fascinated by Böcklin’s work and commissions a unique piece: a painting of his seaside villa (currently under renovation) that must also feature his beautiful wife, Lady Francesca, depicted as Diana the Huntress.

But Arnold harbors a secret: since boyhood, he has been tormented by visions of a mysterious figure that may well be Death itself.

The Creature appears to him in ever-changing guises—sometimes hooded, at other times as a sensual young woman, or even as a corpse with a worm-eaten face. Its presence is always heralded by the sound of a violin playing the same melody: a hauntingly beautiful, poignant tune that only the painter seems able to hear...

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✒️ Francesca Basso

Born in Monza in 1988 and raised in Rome, she earned a Master’s degree in Art History in 2013 and a Master’s degree in Psychology in 2019. Passionate about contemporary art and Symbolism, she has a particular fascination with the intersection of art and psychology. To pursue this passion, she founded "The Blue Drop" in 2020, a blog dedicated to these themes. During the... ...pandemic, she began outlining the plot of L’ultima corda di violino (The Last Violin String), drawing inspiration from Arnold Böcklin’s famous 1872 painting Self-Portrait with Fiddle-Playing Death. In 2023, she officially qualified as an art therapist—a role she had already been practicing for three years, working between Italy and the Czech Republic. She lives in Prague with her family.

This is her debut novel, published by AFFIORI.

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📌 Thursday, March 7

📌 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM

📌 PALAZZO VELLI EXPO – Piazza di Sant'Egidio 10 – Trastevere

📌 Free admission

3 great reasons to attend:

✒️ You will have the chance to meet the author.

🎶 During the presentation, Alberto Marrapese will perform four piano pieces

from the project “The Last String.”

🍷 The evening will be enhanced by a wine tasting featuring wines from

the Casale del Giglio winery.