One of his most famous paintings is The Roses of Heliogabalus (1888) – based on an episode from the life of the debauched Roman emperor Elagabalus (Heliogabalus), the painting depicts the emperor suffocating his guests at an orgy under a cascade of rose petals. The blossoms depicted were sent weekly to the artist's London studio from the French Riviera for four months during the winter of 1887–1888. #
