The Neo-Classical movement was centered in Rome, where many painters congregated around the influential eighteenth-century German art historian Johann Joachim Wincklemann. Winckelmann touted Greco-Roman art, writing explicit descriptions of erotic sculptures from Classical Antiquity thereby encouraging an interest in Greek antiquities. The period is called Neoclassical because its artists looked back to the art and culture of classical Greece and Rome.  Neoclassical art is characterized by its classical form and structure, clarity, and to an degree, realism.

More than just an classical revival, Neo-Classicism was connected to contemporary political events. Neo-Classical artists at first wanted to supplant the eroticism and frivolity of the Rococo style with a style that was orderly and serious in character.  French Neoclassism painters emphasis's patriotism, as well as a sense of civility and honorableness. The movement was particularly connected with the beliefs of the French Revolution and was seen as anti-aristocratic. The fantasy-based aristocratic art of the Rococo seemed an insult upon the rights of men and was vilified by critics and the general public.  In an age of sweeping revolution and transformation Neoclassicism became the art of change.