The far left image is a photograph of a cave painting, about 2-1/2 feet tall near the entrance to the Trois-Freres cavern in France. The closer image is Henri Breuil's drawing of the 14,000 BC painting, published in the 1920s. Given bad lighting, perhaps less than exceptional drawing skills, and a human predisposition to interpret in reproducing images - eye of the beholder and all that - we have for almost 100 years believed what Henri Breuil drew and its interpretation as "The Sorcerer" - a man in mask, deer antlers, with lion paws. Maybe it is all that. Start with the inaccurate angle, bulked-up quads, detailed paws dreamt, what the heck was Henri smoking? Not seeing the mask either. I'm no anatomy expert, but isn't Henri's rendering of what may or may not be, a Viagra moment, pointing the wrong way? Creative license indeed.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Art + History
The far left image is a photograph of a cave painting, about 2-1/2 feet tall near the entrance to the Trois-Freres cavern in France. The closer image is Henri Breuil's drawing of the 14,000 BC painting, published in the 1920s. Given bad lighting, perhaps less than exceptional drawing skills, and a human predisposition to interpret in reproducing images - eye of the beholder and all that - we have for almost 100 years believed what Henri Breuil drew and its interpretation as "The Sorcerer" - a man in mask, deer antlers, with lion paws. Maybe it is all that. Start with the inaccurate angle, bulked-up quads, detailed paws dreamt, what the heck was Henri smoking? Not seeing the mask either. I'm no anatomy expert, but isn't Henri's rendering of what may or may not be, a Viagra moment, pointing the wrong way? Creative license indeed.
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