Why are humans depicted in paintings from ancient civilizations like different than now? Weren’t there artists who could paint realistic paintings?

Question

Weren’t there artists at that time who could draw humans for what they actually looked like. For instance, look at the paintings of kings from the 17th Century or before.

In: Other

Answer 1

Perspective drawing was only made popular after the Dark Ages in Europe. I’m sure some people could do it, but the focus was more on capturing a larger scenario like a battle or a royal ceremony than depicting a photorealistic apple, y’know?

Arts like painting and drawing weren’t sponsored or even encouraged as a practice until patronage was possible (in a society with unequal wealth distribution funny enough), so likely nobody had the time, money, or resources to develop their own style of what we consider “realistic” art.