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

There are many theories as to why. But the one JI subscribe to is it was a stylistic choice of the time. Notice, for example, in Greek paintings that buildings have angles that almost always draw a line to a single point, creating a skewed perspective that differs from the otherwise realistic humans.