The Marble Faun Chapter VII - Beatrice

In which we find Hilda, the gentle and devoted copyist known as the Dove, deeply engaged in the labour of recreating the tragic likeness of Beatrice Cenci, a portrait that seems to hold the profoundest sorrow and a mysterious distance from mortal reach. Her friend Miriam, moved by the image’s somber power, entrusts Hilda with a delicate commission and contemplates the unfathomable nature of Beatrice’s fate, while we glimpse the tender friendships and quiet devotion that weave through the artistic life of Rome.