Art Circle responses to the following are above and below. Well done everyone!
There
are 6,000 representations of animals at Lascaux.
Why? Documentation? Ritual? Successes?
The process seems to give the best clue…
The process seems to give the best clue…
“Horses were always drawn first,
followed by aurochs (oxen) and then stags. Under such conditions, time itself
becomes a crucial factor. This sequence, systematically used for every
composition in the sanctuary, responds to biological requirements, revealed by
the seasonal attributes seen on the animals. This analysis shows that the
horses' features correspond to the early spring, the aurochs to the summer and
the stags to the autumn. The various phases of these biological cycles
indicate, for each species, the beginnings of mating rituals, which bring life.
Over and beyond this literal reading, it is the rhythm, and even the
regeneration, of time that is symbolised. The phases of Spring, Summer and
Autumn are thus reproduced, a metaphoric evocation that, in this setting, links
biological and cosmic time.”
“These vast painted and engraved
compositions seem like witnesses to a spiritual way of thinking, whose symbolic
significance is based on a cosmogonic approach. From the entrance of the cave to
its very depths, the great book of the first – the founding – mythologies
unfurls before our eyes, with its central theme, the creation of the world.”
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| horses, aurochs (oxen), stags, ibexes &bison |
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| indication of scale |
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| Hall of the Bulls |
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| layering image gives sense of time |
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