Wow, those are amazing @kus-knee! One of the things I have always loved about being back in Europe is the way we have these kinds of treasures right in our back yards... simply because the culture is so old and established.
I do like sculpture, very much. I don't necessarily think the people who commissioned the sculptures were ego maniacs... seems more likely that these were simply like "the photographs of their day," along with portrait and event paintings... as photography became more widespread, the popularity of sculpture and portrait painting faded.
Of course, these days it could be argued that the pathological taking of selfies is done by ego-maniacs, so who really knows?!?!
Hahaha. I was waiting for a comment like yours. In fact many around here those who couldn't afford a complete statue had busts made and put them at the entrance to their home.
"Of course, these days it could be argued that the pathological taking of selfies is done by ego-maniacs, so who really knows?!?!" Classic and likely true! I
imagine that the tendency to be a high frequency selfie taker is inversely proportional to our fading beauty as we age! Perhaps this will be the subject of a thesis like article!