14000 years old bisons sculpture found in Le Tuc d'Audoubert cave. Ariege, France.

The Two bison (1-7) were created between the years 15,000 and 10,000 BCE (pr.14,000) The Paleolithic-aged sculptor created the two bison out of clay, which is said to have cracked just a few day after the piece was finished; that being the case, the bison are in very good condition. The cave in which the sculptures are located is Le Tuc d’ Audoubert in France. This work is rather typical of the Paleolithic age because it is of animals, not humans, and more specifically, bison. The sculptures are made to look realistic. The artist has done so by creating textures and shapes that are true to a real bison. 

Before sculpting the two bison, the artist made the decision to not only create a sculpture, but to make it out of clay that was brought into the depths of the cave of Le Tuc d’ Audoubert. The clay was brought into the cave by the artist and then shaped on a freestanding rock using the artist’s hands and a stone spatula type of tool. Additionally, the artist decided to show solely the profile of the bison. 

The sculpture of each bison is two feet long, which makes them among the largest of the known Paleolithic structures and works. The sculptures are estimated to be from 12,000 to 17,000 years old. Additionally, the two bison were sculpted out of clay something not depicted anywhere else in the first chapter of Gardner’s Art through the Ages.

This piece has an immense impact on the history of art because it gives insight on the Paleolithic Age in Europe. The sculptures were created at the end of the Le Tuc d’ Audoubert cave in France; just one of many Paleolithic pieces of art to be done in a cave. The cave seems to be the original canvas of artists. 

The sculpture, Two bison, has both similarities and differences with the bison painted on the ceiling of the cave in Altamira, Spain (1-9). Primarily, region; the two bison sculptures and bison painted on the ceiling are from France and Spain, respectively, and are in caves, the first on a rock towards the end and the latter on the ceiling.

Both works are of bison, a commonly depicted animal in Paleolithic European art. Although the two artists had the same thing to depict, they used different means of doing so. The two bison are sculpted out of clay and the bison of Spain is painted. The sculpture offers a three-dimensional effect that makes the sculptures more realistic than the painting. Additionally, the painting is in more of an abstract style. The two works also differ greatly in size. The sculptures are two feet each, while the painting is five feet long.