Hendrik Cornelisz Vroom, The Return to Amsterdam of the Second Expedition to the East Indies, 1599, oil on canvas (Rijksmuseum).The 1700s is often called the Enlightenment. In many ways, it furthers the interest in the individual seen in the Italian Renaissance and more widely during the Protestant Reformation. Thinkers such as Rousseau, Voltaire and Diderot asserted our ability to reason for ourselves instead of relying on the teachings of established institutions, such as the Church. In art history we study the Rococo and Neoclassical styles.