The goût Grec or "Greek taste" in design was introduced in France in 1757 by Jean-François de Neufforge in his book Recueil élémentaire d'architecture, which praised "the majestic and sober style of the architects of ancient Greece."
 He offered engravings of classical vaults, garlands of laurel leaves, palmettos and guilloches (braided interlaced ribbons) and other motifs which soon appeared in Paris salons.

Beginning in the 1770s, the style pompéien or Pompeii style came into fashion in Paris, based on reproductions of designs found in Pompeii, augmented with arabesques, griffons, sphinxes, horns-of-plenty and vases on tripods, interlaced with vines and medallions and painted on tall rectangular panels on the walls painted white and bordered with gilded stucco.
 The new style also took inspiration from the decorative grotesques of Raphael painted at the Vatican in 1510.
The boudoir of Marie-Antoinette at the Palace of Fontainebleau, designed by Rousseau de la Routière in 1790, just after the Revolution began, is a notable example.

During the French Revolution, the aristocracy fled Paris, and most of the palaces and town houses were stripped of furnishings and decoration.
A new version of neoclassicism appeared briefly during the French Directorate (1795–99), which mingled elements the Pompeiian style with the Adam style from England.
 When Napoleon Bonaparte seized power from the Directory, the neoclassical style began to take on a new form, called Empire Style (1799-1815).

The Empire Style had extraordinary coherence and audacious simplicity, thanks to Napoleon's two energetic chief designers, Charles Percier (1764-1838) and Pierre-François-Léonard Fontaine (1762-1853).
 The motifs were usually symbols of empire, including crowns and laurel wreaths, medals, lyres, horns of plenty, and classical heads seen in profile.
Rooms sometimes had the walls draped in fabric, representing the tents of an army on campaign.
 Interiors and furniture often featured classical columns carved of wood.
 Egyptian motifs and mythical beasts from antiquity, such as the sphinx, griffon and the chimera, were popular.
 Imperial emblems, including the eagle, the bee, and the letter N with a crown, were also common.
The goût Grec or "Greek taste" in design was introduced in France in 1757 by Jean-François de Neufforge in his book Recueil élémentaire d'architecture, which praised "the majestic and sober style of the architects of ancient Greece."  He offered engravings of classical vaults, garlands of laurel leaves, palmettos and guilloches (braided interlaced ribbons) and other motifs which soon appeared in Paris salons.
Beginning in the 1770s, the style pompéien or Pompeii style came into fashion in Paris, based on reproductions of designs found in Pompeii, augmented with arabesques, griffons, sphinxes, horns-of-plenty and vases on tripods, interlaced with vines and medallions and painted on tall rectangular panels on the walls painted white and bordered with gilded stucco.  The new style also took inspiration from the decorative grotesques of Raphael painted at the Vatican in 1510. The boudoir of Marie-Antoinette at the Palace of Fontainebleau, designed by Rousseau de la Routière in 1790, just after the Revolution began, is a notable example.
During the French Revolution, the aristocracy fled Paris, and most of the palaces and town houses were stripped of furnishings and decoration. A new version of neoclassicism appeared briefly during the French Directorate (1795–99), which mingled elements the Pompeiian style with the Adam style from England.  When Napoleon Bonaparte seized power from the Directory, the neoclassical style began to take on a new form, called Empire Style (1799-1815).
The Empire Style had extraordinary coherence and audacious simplicity, thanks to Napoleon's two energetic chief designers, Charles Percier (1764-1838) and Pierre-François-Léonard Fontaine (1762-1853).  The motifs were usually symbols of empire, including crowns and laurel wreaths, medals, lyres, horns of plenty, and classical heads seen in profile. Rooms sometimes had the walls draped in fabric, representing the tents of an army on campaign.  Interiors and furniture often featured classical columns carved of wood.  Egyptian motifs and mythical beasts from antiquity, such as the sphinx, griffon and the chimera, were popular.  Imperial emblems, including the eagle, the bee, and the letter N with a crown, were also common.
Neoclassicism in France