>>291534I don't think OP's pic is from the 2nd century
>>291532Ancient Greeks and Romans were really the only cultures that produced brilliantly realistic art, and almost all of it is sculpture. The paintings that were found in houses and temples weren't very realistic. They didn't have a very good grasp of perspective, the closest they came to one-point perspective was drawing orthagonals that met along the same line, but not at the same point.
Extreme realism can't convey emotion as well as expressionism or impressionism, so as far as surpassing the "power", I think artists today are more capable than ancient Greeks and Romans.
And "epicness." If you're talking about size then what the fuck. Have you ever seen New York City? And just because people don't really make 80 foot statues anymore doesn't mean they're not capable of it.
I do hate non-objective shit though, with a passion. If I had a time machine I would use it to hit Pollock with a bat.