Lascaux is the setting of a complex of caves in southwestern France. It may be the most beautiful Paleolithic painted cave in the world. The cave contains more than 1500 pictures of animals. All of the paintings are about 17,000 years old. The cave was discovered by four teenagers in 1940. Later, the paintings were damaged because of the carbon dioxide produced by visitors, so the cave was closed to public in order to preserve the art.
There are many paintings in the cave which they can be group into human figures, animals, and abstract signs. Over 900 of the paintings can be identified as animals. There are also many geometric figures. There are animals such as equines, stags, bison, cattle, felines, bird, bear, rhinoceros and human.
The most famous section of the cave is the "The Great Hall of Bulls". It contains paintings of bulls,equines and stags. The four black bulls in the paintings are the dominant figures among the 36 animals. One of the bulls were found to be the the largest animal in the cave art. Besides that, the bulls also appear to be in motion, like running.
Another painting is "The Crossed Bison" which is also popular. It was found in a chamber call the Nave. The bison were drawn with crossed hind legs which create an illusion that one bison is closer to us than the other. This visual depth in the scene shows that the primitive form of perspective which was particularly advanced for the time.
There were many visitors and researchers that entered the cave and unintentionally damaged the paintings. This had became a threat to the Lascaux. Besides that, the World War II also changed the environment of the cave. The presence of lightning and changes of air articulation also created problems for the preservation of the painting.
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