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

Is it not possible that the really good ones just didn’t survive as they were done on perishable materials? Thinking about rare survivors like the Portrait of the Boy Eutyches [https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/547951](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/547951) which look like 17th century paintings as well as other ‘Fayum’ portraits [https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-oldest-modernist-paintings-20169750/](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-oldest-modernist-paintings-20169750/)