Considered by many the greatest violin virtuosi to have ever lived, Niccolo Paganini cut an imposing figure. He was tall and thin, and had a pale, long-drawn face with hollow cheeks and thin lips that seemed to curl into a sardonic smile beneath piercing eyes. His complexion was white as chalk and his long tussled hair dark as night.

Dressed head to toe in black, Paganini would play. Weaving and flailing, his skinny fingers cavorting over the strings, as his contorted shoulders gave him the appearance of a giant, frantic bat. Paganini’s every movement and tone seemed to support the age-old tale that the violin was indeed the Devil’s consort.

Playing with such ferocity and eccentric facial contortions, he appeared to be a man possessed. As he flailed around the stage, he created tender passages that would bring audiences to tears. One of his most famous pieces was called Le Streghe, which translates to Witches’ Dance.

His otherworldly technical ability and cadaverous appearance prompted many to suggest malefic connections, believing that he either made a pact with the Devil, or was in fact Lucifer incarnate. Some, when in his presence, would actually make the sign of the cross to rid themselves of what they believed were his evil powers. Soon, ominous rumours spread: it was said that Paganini’s violin strings were made using the guts of murdered women, while others claimed to see the devil standing next to him as he played.

Upon his death, Paganini was refused the Last Rites in the Church and his body was denied a Catholic burial in Genoa. It took four years, and an appeal to the Pope, before the body was allowed to be transported to Genoa, but was still not buried. His remains were finally put to rest in 1876 in a cemetery in Parma.

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