Zone 3 Such a Small Cave for Such Great Art

INTERNATIONAL
EXHIBITION
EXPOSITION
INTERNATIONALE
Zone 3
Such a Small Cave for
Such Great Art
1. Synopsis............................................. 2
2. Exhibition Design................................ 3
3. Modules.............................................. 3
4. Supporting Graphics........................4-5
5. Lighting............................................... 5
6. Films................................................... 5
7. Technical Equipment........................... 5
8. Texts................................................6-7
9. Sound................................................. 7
© SPL-Lascaux
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ZONE 3
Lascaux – International Exhibition
1. Synopsis
Here the engineers’ laser beam concentrates on
the exterior physical geography of Lascaux. It goes
behind the scenes to unveil a small cave only a little
Iess than 10 meters / 33 feet underground. A narrow
fissure at the entrance allowed people to enter it on
several occasions during the last millennia of the
Upper Paleolithic. Except for the entrance, the
physical geography of Lascaux has not changed in
the 20,000 years since the Cro-Magnons’ passage.
There are thousands of caves like it in this region of
France, but it is Lascaux’s walls that were the most
suitable for painting and engraving.
1:10 scale-model of the cave:
minimum surface required 70 sq. meters / 753 sq ft.
Non-audio. Composed of:
- 6 sections, with their stands;
- 1 two-fold graphic introductory panel;
- 1 screen-printed detailed map of the cave on a wood
base;
- 3 short films on small screens showing human
silhouettes to scale.
Map Location Zone 3
The three-dimensional image of the cave made
it possible to create an extraordinarily precise 1:10
scale-model. It gives us information on the geology
and mineralogy of Lascaux. Here you can explore
the tiniest corners of its galleries and discover how
Lascaux was formed.
© SPL-Lascaux
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Lascaux – International Exhibition
ZONE 3
2. Exhibition Design
3. Modules
Minimum required area: 75 sq. meters/ 807.3 sq. ft:
the set is composed of 7 individually dismountable
(collapsible) and movable elements + 1 double
presentation panel, totaling 8 elements:
- Vertical presentation panel + Geology
- Horizontal cartography panel
- 6 sections of the cave on wood stands:
Hall of the Bulls
Axial Gallery
Passage
Apse + Shaft
Nave
Chamber of Felines
Section model of the cave mounted on 6 joined
blocks:
- Baseboards and adjustable legs
- Cave sections attached via movable base
- Metal titles, silkscreened prints, and adhesive text
blocks on joined blocks
© SPL-Lascaux
General View of Zone 3
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ZONE 3
Lascaux – International Exhibition
4. Supporting Graphics
Plan of the Cave
Entrance to the Cave
The Passageway
The Hall of Bulls
The Axial Gallery
The Nave
© SPL-Lascaux
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ZONE 3
Lascaux – International Exhibition
4. Supporting Graphics
5. Lighting
7. Technical Equipment
- Power requirements:
- Hall of the Bulls, Nave, Chamber of Felines:
120/230 Vac, 1 phase 50Hz/60Hz, Max Watts=120
- Axial Gallery, Passageway, Apse+Shaft: 120/230
Vac, 1 phase 50Hz/60Hz, Max Watts=30
- 14 MR16 halo quad lamps (70W)
- 6 LED sources integrated into each model section
3 animated films, each comprising:
- 10.5’ screen’
- 1 EYEZUP HD flash card player
The Shaft and the Apse
6. Films 3 animated films:
soundless animated films each 20 seconds long,
H264 format. For visualizing scale by a human
silhouette represented in 3 of the model’s sections
(Hall of the Bulls, Axial Gallery, Nave).
The Chamber of felines
© SPL-Lascaux
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ZONE 3
Lascaux – International Exhibition
8. Texts
Such a small cave for such great art
*10 million years ago, underground rivers sculpted the
cave in a 60 million year old limestone deposit. 2 million
years ago, a layer of impermeable marl—a loose earthy
deposit—formed over the cavity and prevented water
from infiltrating. Lascaux is a succession of rounded
cavities, without stalactites or stalagmites, offering
painters veritable canvases made of white calcite.
The Hall of the Bulls
*On the north wall of the Hall of the Bulls, a strange
animal—sometimes referred to as the Unicorn—
introduces a frieze of animal figures, dominated by two
enormous bulls standing face to face. Between them,
smaller deer catch our attention with their extravagant
antlers. The group is completed by a herd of horses. No
engravings were made on this type of limestone, and
abstract signs accompany the painted animals.
20,000 years ago, the entrance to the cave was an
overhang. It slowly crumbled, leaving behind a large
passageway. The painters and engravers entered the
cave through this passageway.
About 8,000 years ago, a rockslide blocked the
entrance. This natural closing explains the exceptional
state of conservation of the Lascaux paintings.
*1940, a tree uprooted by a storm opened a crack
in the cave’s ceiling, leaving a hole 8 inches (20 cm) in
diameter on the surface. It is through this hole that the
four “inventors” discovered Lascaux.
The Hall of the Bulls
*On the south wall, another frieze of animal figures
confronts the animals of the north wall. Two immense
bulls tower over horses and deer. The larger of the
two bulls measures 16 x 13 feet (5 x 4 meters). No
engravings were made on this type of limestone, and
geometric signs accompany the painted animals.
© SPL-Lascaux
The Axial Gallery
A succession of animals—which seem to call to one
other—covers each side of the 66 foot (20 meter)
long ceiling. On the north wall, the “Red Cow with a
Black Head” leads the procession, followed by the
“Little Yellow Horses” and the “Cow with the Dropping
Horn.” In the center of the wall, the “Red Cows” are
hidden behind the “Great Black Bull.” At the end of the
procession, thea “Galloping Horse” is followed by the
“a “Falling or Upside-Down Horse” which curves around
the wall. Over 20 abstract signs accompany the figures.
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The Axial Gallery
A succession of animals—which seem to call to one
other—covers each side of the 66 foot (20 meter) long
ceiling. On the south wall, the “Confronted Ibexes” are
followed by the “Chinese Horses.” In the center, the
a “Jumping Cow” towers over a procession of little
prancing horses. Here, too, we find strange abstract
signs. What do they mean?
The Passageway
*The Passageway is 56 feet (17 meters) long and
connects the Hall of the Bulls to the Nave. The walls
were only 5 feet (1.5 meters) high when the Lascaux
artists painted 10 animal figures and managed to
engrave hundreds of figures on them. Several painted
figures were washed out over the millennia. With little
room to work, the engraver drew smaller animals which
were—nevertheless—precise.
The Nave
*The Nave is a cavity 66 feet (20 meters) long and 23 feet
(7 meters) high. It presents a succession of magnificent
works on the north side: the “Frieze of the Ibexes,””,
the “Panel of the Imprint”; then in the center, the “Panel
of the Great Black Cow,” and finally the “Panel of the
Crossed Bison.”
The Nave
*The Nave is a cavity 66 feet (20 meters) long and 23
feet (7 meters) high. On the southern and steeper side,
the “Frieze of the Stags” is the only painting. To reach
the frieze, the painter may have worked from a kind of
ladder: a tree with its branches cut off.
ZONE 3
Lascaux – International Exhibition
8. Texts
9. Sound
The Apse
This 33 feet-foot (10 meters) in diameter dome is a
palimpsest with more than 1,000 graphic elements. A
palimpsest is a surface on which multiple things have
been written and erased, similar to a chalkboard. Out of
the 460 animal figures and 192 unidentified signs that
have been identified, some 20 painted and engraved
animal figures are recognizable.
Soundless Zone
The Shaft
*With a depth of 16 feet (5 meters), the Shaft’s location
makes access difficult, and seems to indicate that the
painters reached it through another entrance that has
not been found to date. The “Shaft Scene” comprises
3 painted animal figures and the only human figure of
Lascaux. Four abstract signs punctuate the sceneThe
scene is punctuated by four signs.
The Chamber of Felines
*At the end of the Lascaux cave, whoever braves this
corridor is rewarded. A gallery that is barely 5 feet (1.5
meters) high and 98 feet (30 meters) long contains 51
engraved animal figures, including 6 felines that are
accompanied by some engraved paintings and abstract
signs.
The Chamber of Felines
*At the end of the Lascaux cave, whoever braves this
corridor is rewarded. A gallery that is barely 5 feet (1.5
meters) high and 98 feet (30 meters) long contains 51
engraved animal figures, including 6 felines that are
accompanied by some engraved paintings and abstract
signs.
© SPL-Lascaux
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