Armand Point

In 1894 he made a trip to Italy with Hélène Linder (1867–1955)[4] (later Mme Berthelot) where he saw Sandro Botticelli's Primavera for the first time outside of an engraving.

[5] The experience made a deep impression on him and he wrote that his eyes "first opened up" on seeing it, leading soon after to attempts to establish a movement in France to resurrect the art of the 15th and 16th centuries.

[3] Hélène Linder became an ideal female model for Point who often painted her in a Leonardesque style but dressed like a muse from Botticelli.

[9] Subjects at this time were usually mythological, such as his 1897 The Siren which included a typical Symbolist femme fatale figure luring men to their doom.

He sought to emulate William Morris in revolting against nineteenth-century materialism[12] and produced applied art, including furniture, jewellery, fabrics, ceramics and wallpaper[3] that harked back to the techniques and styles of the Middle Ages.

As a result, however, the products of the atelier were luxury items that could only be purchased by an elite and the project therefore failed to meet one of its key objectives.

[13] The Symbolist journal L'Ermitage criticised the works of the Haute-Claire group for amounting to religious icons fit only for reverence in a case in a museum and having little to do with the France of today.

The box included bronze, cabochon, champlevé enamelling, cloisonné, ivory, gold and other expensive materials and techniques.