What is Symbolism (art)?
[[File:Jupiter_and_Semele_by_Gustave_Moreau.jpg|thumb|''Jupiter and Semele'' (1894–1895), by [[Gustave Moreau]], [[Musée Gustave Moreau]], Paris]] [[File:Odilon_Redon_-_The_Cyclops,_c._1914.jpg|thumb|''[[The Cyclops (Redon)|The Cyclops]]'' (1914), by [[Odilon Redon]], [[Kröller-Müller Museum]], [[Otterlo]]]] [[File:Félicien Rops - Pornokratès - 1878 (2).jpg|thumb|''[[Pornocrates]]'', by [[Félicien Rops]]. From 1878; [[Etching]] and [[aquatint]] were used to make that art.]] [[File:La vetta - Cesare Saccaggi.jpg|alt=La Vetta, 1912, clearly symbolist work by the painter Cesare Saccaggi from Tortona.|thumb|''[[La Vetta]],'' 1912, clearly symbolist work by the painter Cesare Saccaggi from Tortona.]] '''Symbolism''' was a late 19th-century [[art movement]] of [[France|French]], [[Russia]]n and [[Belgium|Belgian]] origin. The movement rejected [[realism]] and [[naturalism]], and included [[poetry]] and other arts. Symbolists believed that art should represent absolute truths that could only be described indirectly.<ref>A [[symbol]] is an object, action, or idea that represents something other than itself, often of a more [[abstract]] nature.</ref> In literature, the style started with the publication ''[[Les Fleurs du mal]]'' (''The Flowers of Evil'', 1857) by [[Charles Baudelaire]]. The works of [[Edgar Allan Poe]], which Baudelaire admired greatly and translated into French, were a significant influence; It was also the source of many <!--stock--> [[trope]]s and images.<ref>[[Trope]]: [[figure of speech]], device, theme.</ref> Symbolism in art is related to the [[Gothic novel|gothic]] component of [[Romanticism]].[http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/harris/Rom_Links.htm][[File:Étienne Carjat, Portrait of Charles Baudelaire, circa 1862.jpg|left|thumb|241x241px|[[Charles Baudelaire]], one of the most important symbolist poet ]] Origin of the name: The name ''symbolist'' was first used (1886) by the [[art critic|critic]] [[Jean Moréas]]; He invented that name to make a [[distinction|distinguish]] between symbolists and (other