I was looking at this picture and the guy on the right has the back musculature of a modern day bodybuilder. I know some people are naturally more muscular than others, but no one could look like this without lifting weights. I know it is just art and not necessarily an accurate depiction of citizens at the time, but I feel like artists would not depict humans as looking like this without some idea of a real person to base it off of.
Bear in mind that you’re looking at a painting from the late 1580s (The Fall of the Titans, Cornelius van Haarlem) of divine beings, so not only are the figures’ physiques exaggerated, but the they’re firmly in the High Renaissance style of Michelangelo and others. It would be much more accurate to examine the physiques of figures on Greek vases, especially Panathenaic amphorae, which often depicted contemporary athletes. The musculature is generally well-defined, but nowhere near what you see in this painting.
This question has come up here before, and while there is always more to say, our VFAQ response to it is an excellent place to learn more while you wait for fresh responses to your query:
How ripped did ancient Greeks get? a.k.a. did Plato even lift - by /u/Iphikrates
