What fact about history amazes you the most?

It never fails to amaze me how good artists were even thousands of years ago. Take this famous life-like bust of Thracian King Seuthes III. It was made 2300 years ago — a man who lived a full three centuries before Jesus.

A man who was born during the times of Alexander the Great. His eyes are made of with alabaster glass paste, and they are so realistic they’re even bloodshot.

On his cheek we see evidence of an old injury to the cheekbone, likely sustained in battle. Its astonishing, to look upon his face. Here, we see the visage of a King. A mighty warrior, staring at us as he would have during life.

Of note here is the place he was King of — Thrace, the region where the Roman slave Spartacus would later be born in as well. They were known for their great physical strength and for producing fierce warriors.

All across the ancient world, this exceptional realism can be seen. You see it, too, in the tombs of several of Egypt’s great pharaohs, the absolutely gorgeous bust of Nefertiti being one of the best examples of this.

Fast forward only just a few centuries, and the quality of art goes down enormously… in the Middle Ages, realism in art was hard to come by.

In Antiquity, art was often beautiful, stunningly realistic and incredibly well-made. The quality of art and this ability to create life-like statues and images of rulers didn’t return to us until the Renaissance, nearly 2000 years later.