Charles Baudelaire's poetry is closely associated with the erotic, a theme that caused a scandal upon the publication of his 1857 collection Les fleurs du mal (The Flowers of Evil). The collection was deemed an insult to public decency, leading to a prosecution and the suppression of six of the poems. For many visual artists, Baudelaire was a powerful inspiration – those associated with Baudelaire and his embrace of the the erotic include Édouard Manet, Gustave Courbet, Eugène Delacroix, and later symbolist and impressionist artists including Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Edgar Degas and Odilon Redon.

Even as late as 1917 Pierre Combet-Descombes could be inspired by Les fleurs du mal to produce this powerful set of engravings titled simply Images pour un Baudelaire (Images for a Baudelaire), a very fine collection and a rare testimony to Combet-Descombes’ sensual and refined aesthetic.

Images pour un Baudelaire was published by the Swiss publisher Sadag of Geneva, in a limited numbered edition of 160 copies.