I’m blown away by how advanced this artistry is. Things that my art history teacher said would come centuries later, like perspective, shadow and modeling of the human form, and great realism are present in many of these works; while others had the flat decorative quality of the late 19th century.
It makes you wonder how much the later artists knew about the earlier artists. I don’t know when museums began collecting ancient art so that more modern artists could see it and make their own variants. It’s clear from bios and the earliest works of an artist that artists spent a great deal of time in museums copying the work of masters as part of their early education.
By the way, isn’t it a LOT more fun to make your own discoveries in art history by seeing bunches of things at once rather than hearing someone say something that doesn’t go down to your gut so you have to memorize it instead of just KNOWING it? I LOVE these! If ONLY I’d had them when I was studying art history!