cave paintings

In caves, artists depict life (c. 20,000 BC - Europe):It was probably before the current glaciation that people began to make artificial representations of the world they lived in. But the first artistic traditions emerged only over the last 20,000 years. Now essential aspects of life are portrayed with a skill and realism previously unheard of.

Figures and Symbols

Part of the artistic advance is that these artists are beginning to assess their environment and carefully observe its physical details. In other words, their work can be both symbolic and figurative. Working by lamplight, deep within cave systems, they paint mysterious symbols as well as naturalistic images of a landscape that includes mammoths, reindeer, bison and other animals they encounter daily. Indeed, perhaps they believe in animal painting as a kind of magic to increase the likelihood of a successful hunt, possibly because the frigid climate is making life increasingly difficult for cave dwellers.

Light and Color

Cave decoration began to be done regularly about 10,000 years ago. Among the pigments available to cave artists are yellow, red and black, made from ores such as powdered hematite, calcium phosphate and manganese dioxide, some of which are collected up to 50 kilometers from the caves. Large game animals such as woolly mammoths, horses, bison, deer, and wild oxen constitute the usual subjects of these painters, although lions and even fish are also sometimes depicted. Although artists are capable of painting, carving and even sculpting human and animal figures, images of people are remarkably rare. When they exist, they are almost always women.

Statuettes

Particularly common are certain bone or ivory figurines, known by the generic name of Venus, because they are supposed to be symbols of fertility. Often devoid of faces, they are stylized representations of the female form, with extremely exaggerated breasts and buttocks.