The tradition of letting pictures “tell the story” has been practised ever since ancient times. e.g. in churches. An interesting, to the subject here, ”modern” picture is seen on the Vittorio Emanuele Monument in Rome, the big white monument on the northern slope of the Capitoline Hill.
About halfway up, the monument has a platform with a statue and on the statue-base a large carving with “instruments of war” is placed. On one side of the base the carving shows a very detailed four-wheeled wagon for transporting goods. This wagon show details of the traction system and many construction-details, which is very interesting, since here we have an evidence showing how the wagon was constructed in the beginning of the 20th century.
The details are pretty clear on the carving on this monument build in 1911, and since the workmen here were able to make details in their carving, then why not the Romans, too? It is not possible for us to know what the ancient stone masons used as measurement in their carvings, but once in a while we do find details, perhaps not as clear as the ones on the Vittorio Emanuele Monument, but still clear enough to conclude that these carvings where not all made as “free-hand-carvings”.
