34 SECRETS OF EARTH AND SEA 



ancient men who lived with and observed mammoths in 

 the south of France, but also because they show an 

 extraordinary skill in " sketching " — in giving the essential 

 lines of the creature portrayed and in reproducing the 

 artist's " impression/' These artists were " impressionists " 

 — the earliest and most sincere — without self-consciousness 

 or other purpose than that of making line and colour 

 truly register and indicate their vivid impressions. It is 

 interesting to note that (as in other works of art showing 

 true artistic gift) actual error in drawing (for instance, in 

 the size and shape of the eye and the placing of the two 

 tusks on the same side of the trunk — possibly due to the 

 unfinished state of the drawing) sometimes accompanies 

 the most penetrating observation and skilful delineation of 

 the characteristic form and pose of the animal. Probably 

 mammoths were getting rare in the south of France when 

 these drawings were made, and were not so familiar in 

 all their details to the artist as were bison, horse, and 

 deer. 



