The case of Niccolo Paganini is somewhat similar to that of Robert Johnson. Fans and enemies alike could not understand how Paganini(and Johnson) could possess such musical talent. Like Johnson, he never made any claims to making a deal with any devil-like characters. Unlike Johnson, Paganini did not write songs with references to the Devil or voodoo. What seemed to reinforce the rumors of Paganini forming a pact with the Devil(or being the son of the Devil) was his countenance. One description of his features says: "his pale, long-drawn face with its hollow cheeks, his thin lips that seemed to curl into a sardonic smile, piercing expression fo his eyes which were like flaming charcoals, gave him a diabolic appearance...". The "nail in the coffin", so to speak, was that Paganini refused to see a Bishop that had come to give him the final sacraments when he was on his deathbed. Paganini shooed him away, insisting he was not dying at all. When he did die, the church refused to allow him to be buried on holy ground. Five years after his death, Paganini's son managed to convince the Pope to allows his father's body to be buried on holy ground.