Schirmer, who recognized in him a student of exceptional promise, sent him to Antwerp and Brussels, where he copied the works of Flemish and Dutch masters.

[1] He returned to Rome from 1862 to 1866, and there gave his fancy and his taste for violent colour free play in his Portrait of Mme Böcklin, and in An Anchorite in the Wilderness (1863), a Roman Tavern, and Villa on the Seashore (1864).

He returned to Basel in 1866 to finish his frescoes in the gallery, and to paint, besides several portraits, The Magdalene with Christ (1868), Anacreon's Muse (1869), and A Castle and Warriors (1871).

His Portrait of Myself, with Death playing a violin (1872), was painted after his return again to Munich, where he exhibited Battle of the Centaurs, Landscape with Moorish Horsemen and A Farm (1875).

Böcklin is best known for his five versions (painted 1880 to 1886) of the Isle of the Dead, which partly evokes the English Cemetery, Florence, which was close to his studio and where his baby daughter Maria had been buried.

"[5] During his lifetime, Böcklin achieved considerable recognition, especially in central Europe, and influenced younger artists such as Hans Thoma.

[6] When asked who was his favorite painter, Marcel Duchamp controversially named Arnold Böcklin as having a major influence on his art.

[citation needed] H. R. Giger created a picture called Homage à Böcklin, based upon Isle of the Dead.

The Schriftgiesserei Otto Weisert foundry designed an Art Nouveau typeface in 1904 and named it "Arnold Böcklin" in his honor.

[13] Yemelyan Yaroslavsky, Academician of the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union, opened his 1942 laudatory article on Dmitry Shostakovich's Seventh Symphony with an allusion to Böcklin's painting "War".