Sadly most of his works survive only through references to them such as detailed production sketches, watercolors and engravings, among which the aquatints from Collezione di varie scene teatrali, started in 1821.

[4] However, in 1818 he did decide to take a trip to Milan, where he visited the sala Sanquirico the studio of the most important scenic designer of la Scala from which Basoli found inspiration for the set design for the opera Semiramide in 1820, the set for a production of Oedipus Rex at the Theater Contavalli in 1822, and lastly, the background paintings for the scenes at the Theater of Cavalieri dell’Unione in Santarcangelo di Romagna in 1822.

For example, in 1842, he exhibited a series of 16 oil paintings più affascinanti e immaginifici (very fascinating and imaginative), depicting: the four Colossi of Memnon in Egypt; the port of Rhodes (likely including the colossus); Nebuchadnezzar's Babylon (likely including hanging gardens), the famous Equestrian Statue of Domitian in Rome (destroyed in antiquity during his damnatio memorie).

They also depicted a city of Pegù, now Burma, an Arab Tomb, the great hall of Charlemagne, and the magic palace of the sorceress Alcina.

Typical of his designs, merging art and erudition, he later created 26 vignette compositions, depicting an archeologic alphabet in form of watercolors, called his Alfabeto pittorico.