French painting
This change in subject matter allowed artists to break free from the customary imagery in art that typically depicted religious scenes or the wealthy, in favor of commonplace views of the French country and city that constantly surrounded them. As Europe had only witnessed one type of subject in art at that point, this development of Impressionism was seen as a major change. The common man was suddenly celebrated and seen as a worthy subject matter, which was a great step forward for French painting at the time.