Frieze of horses and oxen painted in prehistoric times on a wall of the Grotto de Lascaux 



used earthen dishes filled with oil. on 

 which dry, burning moss probably float- 

 ed. Such dishes have been found but, 

 strangely enough, they have left no 

 smoke stains on the caves' walls or 

 ceilings. 



The hard, crystalline rock of the walls 

 of the main hall did not permit the mak- 

 ing of engravings but only of paintings 

 of an unusual brilliance, enhanced here 

 and there by a transparent layer of cal- 

 cite. A well-developed technique was 

 employed. Through hollow bones 

 (many of which can now be seen in the 

 local museum), the early artists blew 

 powdered clay, red ochre, and oxide of 

 manganese onto walls that had previ- 

 ously been moistened with animal grease 

 and oil. In this way, they were able to 

 create soft nuances, and a harmonious 

 blending of colors. Gradually, the tech- 

 nique progressed from the monochrome 

 silhouette to the perfection of poly- 

 chrome painting. We do not find the 

 full scale of hues, however. Blue is 

 missing, as well as green. For those 

 colors there were no clays, no rocks, 

 which the artists could pulverize and use. 



For reasons that have been suggested, 

 the bodies of the animals were most im- 

 portant to the artists. Quite frequently, 

 therefore, their proportions were overem- 

 phasized, details such as horns, manes, 

 eyes, and limbs being added in black 

 and in much smaller scale. The out- 

 lines were always graceful. The draw- 

 ing demonstrates that the artists had an 



exact knowledge of anatomy, but by 

 omitting everything inessential to their 

 purpose, the paintings appear less nat- 

 uralistic than impressively symbolic. 



Quite frequently one notices how cer- 

 tain stains, bumps, and rugged textures 

 of the wall inspired the artist. In the 

 Lascaux cave, the natural rim of a rock 

 forms the crest of a bison; a hump fits 

 well within a bulging belly, another 

 around a thigh, giving the painting the 

 appearance of being half in relief. In 

 the fresco of the five stags, the out- 

 stretched necks and heads of the ani- 

 mals are painted above a rock which 



resembles a wave, giving the strong im- 

 pression that the small herd is swim- 

 ming through a lake or stream. 



Often, animals were painted in over- 

 lays on top of each other, which indi- 

 cates that the cave was used over long 

 periods of time by different generations. 

 There were probably two reasons for 

 such overpainting: first, in order to save 

 paint, which must have been quite pre- 

 cious and rare; and second, because the 

 first picture might have brought good 

 luck to the hunter and therefore war- 

 ranted being redone over and over 

 again. 



Rock canes of Font-de-Gaume 



Page 5 



