30/12/2021
LASCAUX & THE PAINTED CAVES IN DORDOGNE
One of my first discoveries after leaving Paris and arriving in the Southwest of France was Lascaux.
I’d heard of Lascaux.
Cave paintings. Yeah.
So what’s the big deal?
The big deal is that these paintings are somewhere between 14,000 and 52,000 years old.
…and the fact that the quality of the art is really impressive.
Not only impressive because it still exists, after all this time;
but really impressive because the people who created the art - were REALLY good at it.
We tend to think of prehistoric man as “ape-like”.
- Not only physically, but mentally as well.
The stereotype is of a biped with very rudimentary skills in communication -
But all of this comes crumbling down when you see the art and realize that it required a LOT of skill.
These prehistoric artists were capable of using techniques still common today:
Perspective… shading… and even movement.
They first needed a very keen sense of observation, because the images had to be reproduced from memory.
(I seriously doubt they brought mammoths into caves to model for them lol )
Then there’s the mystery of WHY they created this art - and why SO DEEP inside these caves?
It’s still a mystery. We figured out HOW. We have a pretty good idea of the WHEN. But no one knows why.
…And why are there almost uniquely images of animals? No plants or structures. Almost zero images of humans.
I also had no idea how much prehistoric art exists out there. It’s not just Lascaux.
There are dozens of caves in the Dordogne valley alone with prehistoric art - and there are other sites all over the world.
Not far from Lascaux is the Grotte de Rouffignac: “The cave of 1000 mammoths”.
To visit this cave you board a small electric train which takes you about a mile into the heart of the mountain where the drawings are found.
The difference between the art found in Lascaux and Rouffignac is subtle:
In Lascaux you’ll see *polychromatic* paintings:
This means they were made using a few different colors, and the variations obtained by blending them.
In Rouffignac all of the drawings are one color - black.
But the original Lascaux cave is closed to the public. What you visit - is a replica.
In Rouffignac you get to see the REAL thing.
The reproduction of the Lascaux cave in the International Center for Parietal Arts is phenomenal.
When Lascaux was first discovered in 1940 it became an overnight sensation. Thousand’s of people were visiting it daily.
It quickly became evident that all this traffic was destroying the art, so the Gov’t closed it.
They built the first reproduction of Lascaux in the 1970’s - it opened in 1983. This was called Lascaux 2
There was a mobile version of this which was displayed in museums all over the world - Lascaux 3
Then in 2016 they opened the International Center for Parietal Arts (informally referred to as Lascaux 4)
This new reproduction of the cave covers the entire Lascaux cave system; using all of the latest technology and a team of highly skilled artists.
I highly recommend visiting both Lascaux 4 and Rouffignac.
Then, if/when you become passionate about it like me - you can add other caves to this list: Font de Gaume, Pech Merle, Chauvet…
