It's pretty clear that artwork has always been an important way to convey messages and paint a picture of the times, but why was it that things such as cave artwork, ancient (such as Mesopotamian and Babylonian) sculptures, Egyptian, Greek, and Roman artwork, and even religious works from the Middle Ages seem so basic and crude in comparison to art styles that arose in the Renaissance era? Why has realism never been a priority for early artists? It would make sense that cave painters couldn't exactly dedicate time to something as trivial as art, but especially with civilizations bringing more free time to people as well as people becoming artists for a living, why did we not see realism until so late?