The “Hall of Bulls a cave painting found in Dordogne, France c. 15,000 BCE” according to the caption on page 10 and is described as having been painted on a limestone surface and giving a massive size to the largest animal of eighteen feet. The paintings are believed to celebrate the hunts over a period of time and the bull was very popular on this wall. The attempted realism in these paintings brings to mind another culture obsessed with the bull but for a different cultural reason, and yet they are both very similar in many ways.
The Minoans also had a love affair with bulls. The rhyton called Bull’s-Head is one example of the realistic in art at work again with a familiar subject. A picture of which is on page 89 and the description informs the reader that it is “steatite with shell, rock crystal, and red jasper.” In addition that the horns seen in the picture have been reproduced therefore restoring it to the glory it’s sculpture intended.
Both involve stone, the first example painted on it and the second carved from it. In addition a white powder has been rubbed into the surface of this carved bull to accentuate the coat just as the pigment was rubbed into the walls to create the paintings upon them. Along with the subject matter these two works are a great deal alike or so it would seem.
In Hall of Bulls the paintings are or seem to be surrounding the success of the hunt and give life to the bull perhaps in order that the animal would return for the hunter to also continue to live. Bull’s-Head is a different story coming from a culture that gave life to the Minotaur with a belief that this creature must be placated with the lives of youths both male and female the beast feed on the lives of men instead of men feeding on the lives of bulls. In this way the art works are very different. They also differ in functionality. The Minoan piece has a dual purpose not only to represent an idea or experience but also to poor liquids from. During ceremonies the Rhyton could be filled with liquid at the top back of the head form and would poor these same liquids out of the mouth. Where the cave paintings were not portable nor did they serve wine.
Perhaps each was a useful form for the men or women who created them. A cave painting could have been used to represent so many things including the ritual of worship and regeneration. Where we know more about what the Minoan artist was thinking about when he or she carved the Bull’s-Head it is not that clear what was going on in the thought process of the cave painters work. By recording history they could have been giving them and us a way to celebrate the rites and rituals that we all perform on a daily basis then and now. By doing so each of these works speaks aloud to the perseverance of men throughout time.
Interesting observations, Joy. We can see that the bull represents power and both of these contexts, too. The Minoan rhyton vase would have been used in connection with offerings, perhaps some type of libation to a god (either invoking power or showing deference to power).
ReplyDeleteIn the cave painting at Lascaux (Dordogne), the bulls represent very powerful creatures that also may be associated with religious rites taking place within the cave. This idea of power can even be extended to the scale of the paintings themselves - they are huge!
-Prof. Bowen
The functionality of pieces is something I also noticed. It seems that as the years go on, art pieces were also made with a use in mind, such as vases or cups. I wonder if this is because in using these art and religious piecing in a practical way, one would become closer to the gods depicted on the piece.
ReplyDeleteI like Olivia's comment about using ritualistic items as a means to getting closer to their god(s). It is an interesting idea. I certainly think it's possible.
ReplyDelete