ARTH 12001 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Carbon Black, Prehistoric Art, Paleolithic
7 May 2019
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Document Summary
Prehistoric art was created before writing was invented. Nomadic hunters of europe made pictures of the animals which they depended on for survival. These pictures may have been used for religious rituals, and as a means of gaining spiritual power over their prey. The earliest paintings in lascaux, france, date from about 15,000 bc. The colors were made from various earth hues (red, yellow, brown, violet) and lamp black (soot) from the lamps used in the cave. The pigments were ground to powder and applied directly onto the damp limestone walls and ceilings of the caves. Artists used wooden scaffolding to reach high walls and ceilings. In the lascaux cave, the sockets for a platform of posts survive in one passage. The cave was lit by torches and by burning animal fat as a kind of candle. In a large chamber artists painted huge bulls, 16 feet long.
