I've noticed lots of medieval and early modern painters depicted antiquity looking almost exactly the same as they depicted their own times. Did ancient audiences think these depictions were accurate?

by screwyoushadowban

Examples:

Maccabees

King David

At some point in the past I also encountered what I think was a Dutch painting of Muhammed preaching where everyone looked like you'd expect a medieval Dutch church congregation to look, except Muhammed was wearing a turban, as well as late medieval depictions of Roman soldiers looking like chivalric knights.

Did these artists and/or their audiences think these were faithful depictions (in the technical detail sense) of the past or did they understand them as stylistic depictions? Did medieval Europeans think Roman soldiers and Jewish peasants looked exactly like late medieval men-at-arms and Seleucid cavalrymen looked exactly like fantastical Arthurian knights?

Thanks!

EDIT: Ugh. That last sentence was supposed to be:

Did medieval audiences think these depictions were accurate?

no_comment_reddit

This question has popped up a few times over the years. While waiting for a new reply, I'd suggest reading this reply from /u/sagathain about a similar question regarding the depiction of Biblical scenes.

Did it bother people in the Middle Ages that biblical figures depicted in art wearing at the time modern clothing and armour