Abstract

Portraiture, under the influence of interests in magnetism and paranormal, comes to be a main theme in some of late Capuana's short stories, as La redenzione dei capolavori and Il busto. The human figure, set down by the artist in a static frame, gets animated by the intervention of unknown forces and provokes tragic outcomes for both the artist and the doctor-scientist, pushing them towards madness or death. This production, by using the images of visual arts (painting and sculture above all), depicts an irrational reality that puts into question the integrity of the human conscience.