In the broadest sense, Classicism can be taken to mean a direction in art that seeks an ideal of perfection through order, proportion, balance and precision. Moderation wins out over excess and reason over sensitivity. Classicism can be used to describe certain artistic periods in which this search for the perfect form predominates.
The art of Greco-Roman civilization, especially in the 5th and 4th centuries BC in Athens, remains the classical reference par excellence for Western art. The Greek ideal links beauty with goodness, and the imitation of nature dictates the laws of beauty, clarity and harmony. Art surrounded itself with a number of rules and precepts which Italian artists in the 15th century tried to rediscover. The Classicism of the Italian Renaissance is rooted in this inspiration from principles of Antiquity and the search for formal harmony.
In a narrower sense, French Classicism denotes the art that flourished during the reign of Louis XIV. It inherited the teachings of both ancient models and the Renaissance masters, and extolled respect for, and imitation of, the Ancients. French Classicism was steeped in rules and heavily involved in theorizing: the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture, founded in 1648, and the Royal Academy of Architecture established in 1671 institutionalized and regulated artistic production.
Among the representatives of this style, one could mention the painters Poussin (1594-1665), and Le Brun (1619-1690) whose cerebral and measured works favoured line and drawing. Sculptors Coysevox (1640-1720) and Girardon (1628-1715) rediscovered the serenity of Ancient art through the sculpted decoration of the Château de Versailles and its gardens. Finally the Colonnade which embellishes the east façade of the Louvre, designed by Le Vau (1612-1670), Le Brun and Perrault (1613-1688), is the prime example of the majestic austerity of Classical architecture.
