ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF PERSPECTIVE ANAMORPHOSIS IN ROCK ART – THE LASCAUX RED BULL:

Three Kings panel, McConkey Ranch, Vernal, Utah. Photograph Peter Faris, September 1990.

I have discussed the subject of anamorphosis previously on RockArtBlog. According to Wikipedia “Anamorphosis is a distorted projection requiring the view(er) to occupy a specific vantage point - to view a recognizable image. - The word is derived from the Greek prefix ana-, meaning ‘back’ or ‘again’, and the word morphe, meaning ‘shape’ or ‘form’.” (Wikipedia)

Proportions of central figure of Three Kings panel showing that it is eight heads in height (normal proportion should be six-and-a-half to seven). Peter Faris.

On 23 April 2009, in “Portraiture in Rock Art”, I wrote about the central figure in the Three-Kings panel, McConkey Ranch, north of Vernal, Utah, “This figure also displays another interesting detail. When seen from the ground below the figure appears in normal proportion. When observed from a vantage point near its height the figure is seen to be vertically elongated out of proportion (as seen in the photo above). I enjoy imagining a Fremont Indian artist and his young apprentice creating the portrait of an important man of the band or tribe. The young apprentice forced to climb the rocky crag with his tools and materials where he took direction from the master who stayed down on the ground below shouting to him to "make that line higher, no, a little down from there." The result appears in realistic proportion from below on the ground, but is elongated vertically when viewed from a raised viewpoint.” (Faris 2009)

I revisited this subject in “Perspective Anamorphosis – An Example In Rock Art,” on 22 June 2013, where I again included the above quote.

The red aurochs in the Megaloceros Room, Lascaux cave, France. Photograph by Norbert Aujoulat, from donsmaps.com.

Apparently the artists of the painted caves in Europe had discovered the optical distortions of angle and distance on an image and also used anamaphosis to counter them. “When our ancestors painted beautiful works of art, were they intending them to be viewed by others, or did they just paint for their own pleasure? The Lascaux caves in the Dordogne region of France, may have the answer. There you can see a painting of a red cow with a black head high on one of the walls. Up close the cow appears to be stretched from head to toe, but when viewed from the ground the cow regains normal proportions. This technique, known as anamorphosis, is highly advanced and suggests the painter was considering his audience as he painted the cow.” (Ravilious 2010)

Closeup of the red aurochs in the Megaloceros Room, Lascaux cave, France. Internet photo, public domain.

This could, in fact, be true, the painter may have been aware of the distortion effects of angle and adjusted the image to appear correct from the floor of the cave. But, it is also possible that the anamorphosis appeared accidentally as I described above for the McConkey Ranch Three-Kings panel. An elderly master painter may have been directing a young apprentice high up on a scaffold painting the cow. With the master giving directions from ground level when he told the apprentice where to place the lines of the back and belly of the cow because they looked correct to the master on the ground, the anamorphosis would be automatically built in to the image. Either way, images high on cave walls (with the Lascaux red cow as our particular example) can be found which display perspective anamaphorsis, which makes the cave artists either technically highly sophisticated or the lucky recipients of a happy accident – either way with interesting results.

Lascaux replica, France, another red Aurochs. Internet photograph, public domain.

Lascaux replica, France, brown Aurochs. Photograph, Ministere de la culture, Norvert Aujoulat.

There is, however, another possibility that we have to visit. This thick bodied bovine image may be merely a stylistic choice. Indeed, other painted aurochs from Lascaux show the same features of a small head and an abnormally thick torso. But, as I said above, whatever the truth, the question is fascinating.

NOTE: Some images in this posting were retrieved from the internet with a search for public domain photographs. If any of these images are not intended to be public domain, I apologize, and will happily provide the picture credits if the owner will contact me with them. For further information on these reports you should read the original reports at the sites listed below.

REFERENCES:

Ravilious, Kate, 2010, The Writing on the Cave Wall, New Scientist, 17 February 2010, https://www.sott.net/article/203166-The-writing-on-the-cave-wall

Wikipedia, Anamorphosis, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anamorphosis, accessed on 27 February 2022