He confesses to her that he has a wife and children, she, in despair, strikes him deadly.
The lover’s head is turned into a vase and displayed on the balcony. The girl plants a basil seed in it, a symbol of her sovereignty, and waters it with her own tears, making a beautiful, lush plant grow.
The basil’s beautiful leaves attracted the attention of passers-by and were the start of a splendid tradition: the Moorhead originally made of terracotta, reinterpreted by Palais Royal with modern materials