Sanctuary

Lascaux

About LascauxLascaux is a karsts cave in Aquitaine, region in south-

western part of France, which was discovered in 1940 by four children.

The cave is about 17-16 thousands years.

On walls there are paintings from the Paleolithic.

PaintingsThe chronology of the paintings is referred to the early Magdalenian culture period (15 000 - 13 000 BC). The team adorning the walls of the cave paintings from different eras and shows above all animals - horses, bison, ibex, rhinoceros, mammoths, big cats, bulls and stags.At about 150 meters of corridors is located about 150 paintings and over 15 000 rock engravings. One can observe a progressive improvement of the drawings by the Palaeolithic artists - the individual drawings were created probably in large intervals of time (even decades).

The biggest frieze formed during the Paleolithic, in the central part shows the three animals: a horse, bull and reindeer. It is the most famous passage of paintings belonging to the most interesting elements of this wonderful monument. Rarely appeared in human form, if it is already shown in a primitive manner.

Hall of BullsParticularly interesting is

the so-called Hall of Bulls, where four monumental bulls bordered with black outline filled with thick patches of red and black. Creator applied the so-called elements. twisted perspective: for example in the painting depicting a bull (picture size 3 m) the artist shows the profile of a running bull, whose horns are shown from the front.

Painting techniqueThe paintings were made with paint obtained using

natural dyes:

    * Black - were obtained from charcoal    * Red, yellow and purple - with iron compounds, mainly ocher

Paints were applied with fingers or brushes made from hair or moss. Also used as a primitive hollow bones airbrush.

Save the LascauxUnusual cave paintings of Lascaux suffered greatly as a result of changes in the microclimate by crowds of people visiting the underground gallery. Already in 1963, researchers closed the cave, but it did not do the paintings much safer. After installing a few years ago, a new ventilation paintings began to disappear shockingly fast as a result of the emergence of a mysterious fungus. The struggle to preserve the masterpieces in progress.

The real cave is closed, but for the visitors created a copy of the cave, which mapped cave paintings.

The following is short video, showing a second cave:

Thank You for your attention!

A presentation prepared by Ewa Mędrzecka, II F