The writers and dandies Charles Baudelaire and Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly also had some influence, but the most important model was the notorious aristocratic aesthete Robert de Montesquiou, who was also the basis for Baron de Charlus in Marcel Proust's * la recherche du temps perdu. Montesquiou's furnishings bear a strong resemblance to those in Des Esseintes's house: In 1883, to his eternal regret, Montesquiou admitted St*phane Mallarm* (to his home).
Montesquiou
St*phane Mallarm*