Nov 11 2008
the Cave Art of Lascaux
There are several caves in France and Spain that contain some of the oldest examples of cave art in the world. When it comes to these caves, the best known is Lascaux Cave in France. Located near Montignac in the Dordogne of France, Lascaux Cave has been called the Sistine Chapel of Prehistory. Currently the cave is closed to the public. Lascaux Cave contains several rooms or galleries with numerous paintings. There is little contest, most agree that the paintings found in the cave date somewhere between 15 and 20 thousand years ago! The drawings show a high level of sophistication, using both perspective and motion, shadows and highlights, and often incorporating three dimensional elements of the rock face. When studying the Cave Art of Lascaux, there are several significant sources to examine. Jacques Boucher de Perthes was one of the first people to realize the significance of the discovery at Lascaux. Priceless sketches of very inaccessible examples of the paintings were made by Henri Breuil after his perilous explorations in the cave. It was Andrew Leroi-Gourhan who began to rethink the assumptions about the paintings that people had until the 1940’s. Today the paintings of Lascaux Cave have captured the interests of many, and there are many ideas about there meaning and significance. That mystery is a large part of their attraction
