Classical art is the art of ancient Greece and Rome, and by extension later art that follows its principles and forms. It is characterised by idealised human figures, balanced proportions, harmony, clarity and restraint, and draws on mythology, history and the heroic nude as its principal subjects.
Greek art reached its classical peak in the fifth and fourth centuries BC, with sculptors such as Phidias, Polykleitos and Praxiteles, and buildings such as the Parthenon. Roman art absorbed and adapted Greek models, adding realistic portraiture, historical relief and decorative wall painting. The rediscovery of classical art in Renaissance Italy transformed European painting, sculpture and architecture, and the excavations at Herculaneum and Pompeii in the eighteenth century fuelled the Neoclassical movement associated with Robert Adam, Antonio Canova and Josiah Wedgwood. Classical forms and ornament, including columns, acanthus leaves, urns, swags, anthemion, key patterns and figures of gods and goddesses, have been revived repeatedly in architecture and the decorative arts ever since. In the antiques trade, the term is often applied to sculpture, plaster casts, prints and garden statuary based on ancient prototypes, which bring order and calm to country house and contemporary interiors alike.
