In the 18th century artists in Europe were influenced by rapid social and political change. The intellectual heritage of the Renaissance and attempts to directly learn from the cultures of ancient Greece and Rome created a New Classicism, centered around Jacques-Louis David, a departure from Baroque and Rococo.
十八世紀後，歐洲畫家的命運受社會與政治情勢影響，知識份子繼承文藝復興時代遺緒，試圖直接學習古希臘、羅馬文化，產生了以賈克﹘路易．大衛為中心的新古典主義，也走出了奢華品味。