:’) The Renaissance artists did study it, and gave us modern perspective. The best of the fresco artists of the ancient world did a great job with realistic portrayals, so they have had some kind of text on which they relied. Michelangelo got the equivalent of his postdoc studies when a Roman sculpture (marble, from a Greek work, by Greek sculptors, probably a bronze) was dug up in 1506. I’ve actually seen a pretty silly allegation on the web that the Laocoon group wasn’t Roman-era, but instead was the work of Michelangelo. :’) By the time Michelangelo saw this in Pope Julius’ collection, he’d already done the Pieta and the David, either of which blast most prior works right out of the water. :’D
http://www.artlex.com/ArtLex/h/images/hellenstc_laocoon.lg.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laoco%C3%B6n_and_his_Sons
Yeah, but these were paintings from Pompeii, not statues, and showed some of the typical tricks of artists in painting a scene to give the illusion of depth perspective.
I hadn’t seen many Roman painting from this era that were clear enough to show this.
