Drawing on his experience in cloisonnism and synthetism, and deeply influenced in 1892 by his work on tapestries for the Count of La Rochefoucauld, Bernard went on to produce an entire series of decorative compositions in medieval or Renaissance-inspired styles.

His research into medieval symbolism had begun in 1891, around the same time as his dispute with Paul Gauguin regarding the origin of synthetism. Interested in religious themes and inspired by the Italian Primitives, he explored the reduction of forms and colors to their essentials.

From 1889 onward, Emile Bernard cultivated a friendship with the painter and patron Eugène Boch. Boch helped Bernard financially and introduced him to his sister Anna, a neoimpressionist painter with strong connections to artistic circles, particularly in Belgium.

In 1892, Anna Boch commissioned and received a four-panel work, Les Quatre Saisons, from the artist.

Nature morte allégorique aux fruits et au vin, typically synthetic with its dark blue outlines around the fruits and objects, illustrates Bernard’s exploration of combining different elements to enhance the decorative and symbolist aspects of the composition. The reduction of details and the use of strip-line techniques in depicting the objects continue the characteristics of synthetism.

He incorporated decorative patterns, such as the leaf motifs on the left-hand side, resembling those on the wooden furniture from 1892 at the Indianapolis Museum. His interest in medieval poems grew, as evoked in his letters to the artists Boch and Schuffenecker in the spring of 1891.The diagonal line and the folds of the drape seem to convey a sense of movement and energy in the composition, further enhanced by the volume of the fruits. In this painting, the artist conveys these various interests and combines the subject of grapes

with a poem inspired by the oral medieval tradition about the enjoyment of food and drink.

Nature morte allégorique aux fruits et au vin echoes the four-screen panels, Les Quatre Saisons, employing the same idea of pattern research and written poems to enhance the symbolic approach. It is a striking example of synthetism with decorative motifs, demonstrating Bernard's synthesis of visual and literary art forms.