– Why were ancient drawings or paintings so unrealistic?

Question

I’ve always found it interesting how drawing and paintings from the ancient era through the medieval era look almost cartoonish. Then (seemingly) all of the sudden people discovered how to make realistic artwork during the renaissance era. Why is that the case?

In: 17

Answer 1

Actually professional artists spent most of their time painting boring portraits of rich men and their wives and children. If you look at surviving Egyptian or Greek portraits, they were quite realistic. The stuff you see on temples depicting heroes, gods, and mythological events were stylized for a reason.