A highly influential movement in both European literature and visual arts from approximately 1885 to approximately 1910. Symbolism rejected objectivity in favour of subjectivity. It turned away from a direct portrayal of reality. Instead it created a synthesis of many different sides of reality with the intention of suggesting ideas through the use of ambiguous, but powerful symbols. The movement united religious mysticism with an interest in the degenerate and the erotic, and an obsession with what they considered "primitive" and a refined cult of the decadent.