French art consists of the
visual and
plastic arts (including architecture, woodwork, textiles, and ceramics) originating from the geographical area of
France. Modern France was the main centre for the European
art of the Upper Paleolithic, then left many
megalithic monuments, and in the
Iron Age many of the most impressive finds of early
Celtic art. The
Gallo-Roman period left a distinctive provincial style of sculpture, and the region around the modern Franco-German border led the empire in the mass production of finely decorated
Ancient Roman pottery, which was exported to Italy and elsewhere on a large scale. With
Merovingian art the story of French styles as a distinct and influential element in the wider development of the art of Christian Europe begins.