A revival of classical aesthetics and forms, especially: A revival in literature in the late 1600s and 1700s, characterized by a regard for the classical ideals of reason, form, and restraint. A revival in the 1700s and 1800s in architecture and art, especially in the decorative arts, characterized by order, symmetry, and simplicity of style. A movement in music lasting roughly from 1915 to 1940 that sought to avoid subjective emotionalism and to return to the style of the pre-Romantic composers.