Aubrey Beardsley, the epitome of fin de siècle who died tragically before he was twenty-six, was a flamboyant young man of great gifts. one of the greatest modern illustrators, Beardsley was driven by unremitting financial needs, a hopeless illness, and an urgency always to excel in what he admired in others. Beardsley kept to himself, and as a result has been credited with great evil and great saintliness. He has been accused of incest with his sister, and of homosexuality. Certainly his near obsession with sex has earned him a place in the circle of The Decadents