Hello everyone! My name is Ashley, and this is my dog Diesel. He's much better looking than me. I am an older student who has returned to school after a 20+ year break. I am currently an Art Ed major. I recently began learning to use software to create art digitally and have even published my own website. I have found, over the course of the summer, that I love the digital platform. I still have a long way to go to become proficient, but it has become my passion. I also love music and hiking.
Panel of Hourses, wall painting in the Chauvet Cave (image from the Caverne du Pont d’Arc replica), France, c. 30,000 – 28.,000 B.C.E. or c. 15,000 – 13,000 B.C.E. (photo: Claude Valette, CC BY-SA 4.0)
I wanted to share this wall painting because I am fascinated that our ancestors, who lived during the same time as the wooly mammoth, had the drive to create something so spectacular. Obviously, we have no written accounts and can only speculate, but some experts believe that this could be our first attempt at animation. If you look at the wall you see animals layered/stacked upon themselves. Now, add in the fact that this was painted deep inside a cave where the only light would have been that of a flickering fire, and you may be able to understand what they were up to. This is just one theory of course, but I like this theory the best. I also love the stylized way in which the animals were drawn. Did Picasso maybe sneak a couple of peaks at these guys before working on his bull series?
Dr. Asa Simon Mittman, "Religion: spotlight — Chauvet cave," in Smarthistory, July 27, 2019, accessed August 27, 2020, https://smarthistory.org/overview/look-at-this-an-art-appreciation-course/theme-religion/.
