Editing Nabis (art) (section)

== Religion, symbolism, myths and legends ==
The Nabis were influenced by the literature, music and theater of the [[Symbolism (movement)|symbolist]] movement, and, among some of the Nabis, there was a strong current of [[mysticism]] and [[Western esotericism|esotericism]]. Their approach to their order was partly humorous and whimsical; the studio of Ranson at 25 [[Boulevard du Montparnasse]] was called their "temple", Madame Ranson was termed "The light of the Temple", and the original Nabi painting by Sérusier was displayed in the studio like a shrine, and titled ''The Talisman''. Sérusier whimsically painted Paul Ranson in a sort of Nabic robe, with a staff and a text before him. However, they also had a more serious side. They rejected the materialism of the new industrial age, and admired the poetry of [[Baudelaire]], [[Mallarmé]] and [[Edgar Allan Poe]]. They placed themselves in opposition to the current of [[Realism (arts)|naturalism]] expressed in the paintings of [[Courbet]] and [[Manet]] and the literature of [[Émile Zola]].<ref name="Raffali">Raffali, Ludovic, ''Les Nabis - Un movement Symbolist?'' in ''Les Nabis et le Decor'', ''L'Objet d'Art'', March 2019, pp. 63, 64</ref>

Maurice Denis and Paul Sérusier were the Nabis who most often painted religious subjects. The work of Denis was influenced by the paintings of [[Fra Angelico]]. He often painted scenes and themes taken from the Bible, but with the figures in modern costume, in simplified landscapes and surrounded by light, a symbol of faith. In 1895, he received a commission for a series of seven large paintings called ''The Legend of Saint Hubert'' for the Paris home of Baron Cochin. They illustrated the story of Saint Hubert hunting in the forest of [[Aquitaine]], seeing a vision of Christ, and being converted to Christianity.<ref name="Raffali" />

Paul Sérusier painted less Christian and more mystical scenes, particularly ''La Vision pros du torrent'' or ''The rendezvous of fairies'' (1897), showing a group of women in Breton costumes passing through the forest, carrying bouquets of flowers to a ceremony, and ''Femmes à la Source'', depicting a series of women solemnly descending through a mystical forest to a spring. This illustrates the legend of the [[Danaides]], who in mythology were condemned to fill and refill leaking jugs of water from a spring. He painted several works of women in Breton costumes conducting pagan ceremonies in the forests of Brittany.<ref name="Raffali" />

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px" perrow="4">
File:Maurice Denis, 1889, Le Calvaire (Climbing to Calvary), oil on canvas, 41 x 32.5 cm, Musée d'Orsay.jpg|[[Maurice Denis]], ''Le Calvaire (Climbing to Calvary)'' (1889), Musée d'Orsay
File:MauriceDenis-LaLegendeDeStHubert-7LArriveeALErmitage.JPG|Maurice Denis, Final scene of the Legend of Saint Hubert (1897), Departmental Museum of Maurice Denis, Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1897)
File:LES DANAÏDES OR FEMMES À LA SOURCE.PNG|[[Paul Sérusier]], ''Women at the Spring'', Musée d'Orsay (1898)
File:Serusier-BoisSacre.jpg|Paul Sérusier, ''The Sacred Woods''
</gallery>