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Cave Paintings
Cave Paintings
CAVE PAINTINGS
ARE BOLD AND
BEAUTIFUL
CAVE PAINTINGS …
The Lascaux cave paintings which are located in the Vézère Valley (in the
department of Dordogne) near the town of Montignac were discovered by
two teenagers and their dog in 1940.
Many are quite large and are even life-size. The contours of the rocks are
used to give a real sense of dimension and movement. The subject in the
paintings were the animals that were found in that part of the world at
that time
The picture above is that of a horse. The colours depict the built of the
animal. Also the animal has been drawn along the contours showing a 3D
relief .
The painting below shows the meeting point of two groups of stags.
Some historians believe that apart from using minerals, charcoal and flint
stones the pre historic men sometimes used animal blood for these cave
paintings. Sometimes they used human blood also.
Some of the paintings stretched from the floor to the ceiling. They had
paintings which were life-sized and sometimes even bigger.
These paintings showed detailed features of the animals- ranging from their
body features to their sexual characteristics and features.
Here there are also a number of dubious figures. Some mysterious
figure like the ‘unicorn’ as shown in the above picture.
It would appear, therefore, that the said mysterious figures are the oldest
creations to be seen in this varied and colourful ensemble
The above picture is that of the renowned ‘Ceiling of the Polychromes’.
Identifiable amongst the painting are four outlined or monochrome-shaded
horses, a goat, and several hands, which likewise are drawn either as outlines
or as shaded figures.
The cavemen picked topics which were realistic and which happened around
them. Basically they were natural scenes of animals fighting, running etc.