Hierarchical proportion

Hierarchical proportion is a technique used in art, mostly in sculpture and painting, in which the artist uses unnatural proportion or scale to depict the relative importance of the figures in the artwork.

For example, in Egyptian times, people of higher status would sometimes be drawn or sculpted larger than those of lower status.

During the Dark Ages, people with more status had larger proportions than serfs. During the Renaissance images of the human body began to change proportion was used to depict the reality an artist interpreted.

The Narmer Palette - obverse side, Early Dynastic Period of Egypt, about the 31st century BC

Victory stele of Naram Sin, the Akkadian Empire in ancient Mesopotamia, 2350 - 2000 BC

The Weighing of the Heart from the Book of the Dead of Ani, 19th dynasty of the New Kingdom of ancient Egypt, c. 1250 B.C.

Panel 3 from Maya city Cancuén portraying the ruler Tajal Chan Ahk, 8th-century

Otto III from the Gospels of Otto III, Reichenau Abbey in southern Germany, late 10th or early 11th century

Last Judgement by Gislebertus in the west tympanum of the Autun Cathedral in France, 1120 - 1146.

...
Wikipedia