From the early 18th to the mid-19th century, dynamic transformations in European art mirrored turbulent political and social changes, including revolutions, imperial conquests, and the emergence of the modern industrial age. Neoclassicism, the severe style embraced by the revolutionaries who did away with France's monarchy, was grounded in ancient Greek and Roman culture and was often used to reinforce political messages. Revolution swept through Europe. Some Realists turned to nature, using landscape to convey a sense of the direct experience of a specific place and time.