 This herd of horses was painted along the walls of the Chauvet-Pont-d'Arc caves in France. The discoveries in France are among the most spectacular examples of cave art to date. |
Such works occur not only in one cave, but also in over 130 caves discovered to date. The most notable paintings are found at the caves of Lascaux in southern France and Altamira in northern Spain. What did the earliest artists draw, and what inspired them to do it?
These artists depicted what probably mattered most to them: the animals their tribe hunted, including bison, deer, wild boars, and horses. Some of the figures are quite large — one bull at Lascaux is 18 feet long! More surprising is the quality of many drawings: the proportions are correct, the poses are lifelike, and the outlines are firm and vigorous. Figures are occasionally shaded to suggest the roundness of the animal, stippled to indicate the texture of its pelt, and even drawn on a natural protrusion of the rock surface to give its form more fullness. In contrast to the animals, the few human images are small, roughly drawn stick figures, sometimes carrying spears or bows.
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