Eighteenth-century art is often perceived as a gradual transition from the frivolity of the Rococo to the grand Neoclassical style.

However, this exhibition and its accompanying catalogue aim to shed light on the various endeavors to renew artistic forms and themes during the period of 1720-1790 by drawing inspiration from ancient Greece and Rome.

Approximately one hundred major works - paintings, sculptures, drawings, engravings, and decorative arts - illustrate the processes of innovation, emulation, and even resistance to the antique in eighteenth-century Europe, revealing the underlying tensions that existed within the creative process.