Lascaux Caves
My visit to the Lascaux Caves
Tyler Ballou
October 6, 2010
Third Bull
The third bull takes up part of the ceiling that opens onto the Axial
Gallery, and its rear members touch the entrance. Its position
provides a link between the start of the Axial Gallery and that of
the Passageway further on. The hindquarters are not depicted,
perhaps so as not to cover over the fourth bull, which follows it.
Scraping was also used to distinguish the joint of the right forelimb
from the body of black horse already present. What sets this bull
apart is the exaggerated elongation of its forelimbs, an
anamorphic technique that was necessary to maintain its
dimensions
Cow with the
Drooping Horn
The Cow with the Drooping Horn occupies a central position in this
composition. It appears between the first two yellow horses. Only the head,
neck, chest, withers and the beginning of the back are depicted. The slender
throat, the acute facial angle and the small horns tell us that this is a female.
The specificity of this figure is its drooping horn. In addition, image processing
has revealed a second horn, drawn on the cow's cheek. Black, which has been
used for the head, was applied first, using the spray technique and a stencil.
The body is in red. The left horn was painted with a brush.
Horse Rolling
on the
Ground
Another example is the Horse Rolling on the Ground, which, like the
Falling Cow in the Axial Gallery, is depicted in motion – a rare event. 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 torqued. 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 Swimming
Stags
This composition contains the only figures on the right-hand wall. We are
in the presence of five heads of stags, turned towards the back of the
gallery. A horse and a line of dots are discretely blended into the centre
of the panel. The traditional name of Swimming Stags comes from the
fact that only the heads, antlers and necks have been represented.
Beneath them, the color of the rock changes, following along the base of
each figure. Depictions of rows of heads such as this are not rare.
The six red
dots
The six red dots, arranged in two rows, mark the end of the development
of this gallery. Beyond lies only a very narrow, clayish and impenetrable
conduit. These are the very last instances of parietal art in this sector.
These dots are quite similar to a group of dots in the panel in the Shaft
Scene, not only in the distribution of the dots and how they were applied
(with a finger), but also in their location, at the far end of the decorated
ensembles.
Head of a stag
In a large field of black, which is part of a large image of a cow, the
outline of a stag has been engraved. The method used to create it is
similar to the scratchboard technique. It is in every aspect comparable to
the animals in the Frieze of the Swimming Stags, a few meters away in
the Nave. The figure is not limited to the antlers, head and neck – the
entire body has been drawn, but more discretely. The eye is shown, like
most of the stags in the gallery to the right.
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.
http://www.lascaux.culture.fr/index.php/fichier=00.xm
l