It seems like much of the renaissance art I've seen depicting classical figures does not seem to use the garb I would expect.
For instance, in "School Of Athens," By Raphael, Aristotle and Plato are depicted in something that looks almost like a Roman toga, rather than the tunic I'd expect.
Pic: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sanzio_01_Plato_Aristotle.jpg
Were Renaissance Artists able to depict ancient figures/scenes with reasonable accuracy? What did they get right and wrong?
It is totally inaccurate. They did it “on purpose” to get people to identify with the characters and learn from them. (As art had educational means for those who couldn’t read). It is really cute though, as if you painted today the last supper scene with hipster characters, Jesus and the apostles wearing jeans and a moustache... people would feel identified and get more involved with the piece. Anachronisms are quite common in art. Reinassance and Medieval artists (well they were not “artists” as we know them today but that is another thing) all painted from their point of view, from their time, space and situation. And an occidental touch is always present. European characteristics dominate these scenes. For example, Jesus is always depicted as a white, hot and tall European guy when in reality he had Jewish factions, dark skin and quite an Arabic face. The same goes with the virgin. So yes, figures from antiquity in reinassance art are super inaccurate. But I believe that the inaccuracies from antiquity are not as notorious as the ones featuring the religious narrative.