During the 1700s to early 1800s, art was an important form of expression. It show cased whether a person had money and notoriety or if they were part of the lower class. People's egos were very much important. Everyone wanted to be a part of the upper class. They would pay an absurd amount of money to have a portrait done of them. Paintings also progressed from being disproportionate portraits to very intricate depictions of mythological creatures and fancy ceramics in a short amount of years. Many of these pieces are still in good shape today, telling us a lot about this time period.