Eugenio finds Virginia dying (Eugenio, vol.2, Pougens, An VIII) - Patas after Le Barbier

The scene illustrated takes place at the end of the novel: the two lovers, victims of their entourage, were unable to marry and were cruelly separated. Virginia, who had mistakenly thought that Eugenio had not been faithful, had taken the veil in the convent of San Cipriano, but having realized her mistake after seeing Eugenio again, she had planned a failed escape scheme with him. As punishment, the abbey's abbess announced her dead and locked her up in the underground without anyone knowing. Eugenio, in despair, had become a monk.

Ten years later, Eugenio, now Father Carlo, has to go and confess a dying young sinner from the abbey of San Cipriano: when he arrives in her underground cell, he discovers Virginia to his amazement, who is similarly appalled. And as Eugenio raises his eyes to an absent sky, Virginia, covering her heart with her hands, stares at her lover, now standing in for the crucified Christ behind him. On the bedside table, books and an hourglass are present, signifying the time Virginia spent waiting uselessly in these dark places.