Neoclassicism was born in the mid-1700s, originally in Rome but its popularity exploded in France, as a generation of French and other European art students finished their training and returned from Rome to their home countries with newly-rediscovered Greco-Roman ideals. As a testimony of the significant influence the Greeks and Romans had on Western civilization, the term itself is a merger of words derived from both ancient languages spoken by them; neos (Greek for “new”), classicus (Latin for “first class”) and ismos (Greek for “doctrine” or “ideology”). Neoclassical art style was widely adopted and popularized by French artists, since France was the centre of culture and art in Europe at that time. The art movement was not limited to painting and sculpture; it was also manifested in literature, architecture and music, embraced by artists all over Europe and America. Born on the eve of the Age of Revolution, it reflected the intellectual, social and political changes of that period and it became the semiofficial voice of the French Revolution.