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

I would guess that besides the technical limitations of art, a lot of it would just boil down to stylistic preference. I’m sure everyone knew that the paintings didn’t look exactly like people, but knew what the art was depicting and rolled with it, similar to how we consume a lot of our animated stylized media.

I’m just imagining someone in 2000 years looking at the remains of our civilization through the plethora of anime- and cartoon-styled art. “Why did humans depicted in paintings from the 2000s look different than now? Weren’t there artists who could paint realistic looking people?”