Lascaux Caves

My journey to the famous Lascaux Caves!!!

October 6, 2010Caleb Sisbach

Second Bull

Almost every anatomical detail is depicted: the very striking horns, the parted poll, the hide, the prominent sex. Only the outline of the aurochs has been traced and, as for its counterpart, the upper part was created with a brush, while the lower contours were applied with blown pigments .It is covered over with three figures – the head of young bovine, a small, partial silhouette of a horse and a large red bovine. It is also surrounded by a number of geometrical signs, particularly between the shoulder and the breast (including dots, a hooked symbol and a red line) and over the withers (a line and three dots).

Panel of the Hermione

The originality of this modest panel, unconnected to the long graphic strip running along the walls from the entrance in the Hall of the Bulls, lies in its position: it is located at the foot of the wall. Two yellow horses face each other

Horse Rolling on the Ground

The singular nature of some of the animal figures in the Passageway comes from their apparent motion or the treatment of certain anatomical segments. We can see this in the Horse with the Turned-Back Hind limb, which occupies the centre of a composition involving a dozen equips.. To make it easier to see, the outline has been enhanced. Although there is nothing particularly noteworthy about the forequarters, the ensemble – hindquarters and hind limbs – are torque. The origin of this movement is not perhaps a fall, but rather a specific gesture made by certain animals when they roll on the ground or prepare to get to their feet.

The Bearded Horse

The Bearded Horse provides a quiet introduction to the iconography of the Nave, and could almost pass unnoticed, so much is the eye drawn to the major compositions. And yet, it is one of the figures closest to the pathway through the gallery. It is painted at eye level. Black pigment once covered almost the entire body, but now only a few traces remain here and there on the hide. The deeply-engraved lines depict every anatomical detail, plus one additional aspect that sets it apart from every other horse in the cave – a growth of hair between the lower jaw and the lower lip.

Head and Horns of a Bison

This bison, which has been engraved on a somewhat damaged surface, consists of a set of horns, a poll with abundant fur, the beginning of the nose and the eye, which has been depicted using two concentric circles. The surrounding elements are much fainter. The rock, which has been softened by alteration, has allowed the artist to make deep incisions, as can be seen in the frontal segments

Small Head of a Horse

Most of the animal figures in the Apse are medium- and large-sized. Nevertheless, there are exceptions, such as this small, isolated horse's head, which is barely 10 cm long. This is one of the smallest figures in the gallery. Miniaturization, however, does not mean discretion. The heavy line and the black background, which contrasts with the white of the engraving, makes this figure stand out remarkably.

Rhinoceros

The various interpretations given of the Shaft Scene always take the Rhinoceros into account. And yet, the presence of this lone animal stands in contrast to the other animals. A closer look reveals a very different technique. The outlines were made by spraying pigments, compared with the other figures, which were done with a brush. The color black might leads one to believe that the same pigment source was used, but this is not the case. Pigment analyses of the manganese dioxide show that the same source was used for every figure, the horse included, except for the rhinoceros

Source: http://www.lascaux.culture.fr/index.php?lng=en#/fr/00.xml