Parnassianism

The Parnassian was a French poet group in the second half of the 19th century, which was based on the principle of l'art pour l'art. They received the name of the 1866 anthology published by Alphonse Lemerre Le Parnasse contemporain ( of 1871 and 1876, a second and third volume followed ). The name refers to the Parnassos, the " mountain of the Muses " in Greek mythology.

The most important representatives were Charles Leconte de Lisle and Théophile Gautier. Other important names are Théodore de Banville, Paul Verlaine, Sully Prudhomme, José -Maria de Heredia, François Coppée and Albert Giraud.