Venus of Brassempouy
Prehistoric Paleolithic Ivory Carving: History, Date, Description, Photograph.

Venus of Brassempouy (23,000 BCE).
First venus to display facial features:
first Stone Age Portrait.

Venus of Brassempouy (c.23,000 BCE)

Contents

• Introduction
• Discovery
• Description
• Date
• Other Venus Figurines
• Museum

Introduction

The Upper Paleolithic Venus of Brassempouy is a surviving fragment of an ivory carving (broken in Antiquity) which was unearthed in 1892 at Brassempouy, in the departement of Landes in southwest France in 1892. Dated to about 23,000 years BCE, this unique prehistoric sculpture is one of very few detailed representations of a human face, from the Stone Age era, and possibly the earliest known. It belongs to the European tradition of miniature "Venus Figurines" as exemplified by the German Venus of Hohle Fels (35,000-40,000 BCE), the Russian ivory carving known as the Venus of Kostenky (c.30,000 BCE), and the famous Austrian Venus of Willendorf (c.25,000 BCE).

To see how the Brassempouy carving fits into the development of prehistoric art during the Upper Paleolithic tool cultures of the Stone Age, see: Prehistoric Art Timeline.

Discovery

The figurine was discovered during an archeological investigation of two local Brassempouy caves, known as the Galerie des Hyènes (Gallery of the Hyenas) and the Grotte du Pape (the Pope's Cave). The venus was recovered from the Grotte du Pape, along with several other human carvings, including - some time later - the "Lady with the Hood". See also Petroglyphs.

Description and Characteristics

The Venus of Brassempouy - the surviving head and neck of the original figure - was sculpted from mammoth ivory. The carving is roughly 3.5 cm in height, 2.2 cm deep and 1.9 cm wide. Unlike the other venuses found at Brassempouy and elsewhere, this particular one contains clear facial features of forehead, brows, eyes, nose but no mouth. The top and sides are incised with a representation of braided hair or an Egyptian-style headdress.

Date

The Venus of Brassempouy has been assigned to the Gravettian or Upper Périgordian culture of the Upper Paleolithic period - the last part of the early Stone Age, and dated to approximately 23,000 BCE.

Other Venus Figurines

The Venus of Brassempouy was created during the same period as several other similar statuettes, including the Venus of Dolni Vestonice (Czech Republic), Venus of Willendorf (Austria), Venus of Lespugue (France), the Venus of Savignano (Italy), the bas-relief Venus of Laussel (c.23,000 BCE), and the limestone Venus of Kostenki (Russia). That said, the realistic facial detail added by her ivory-carver makes her a unique specimen of venus art. Sadly, we remain in the dark about the rest of her body, which was destroyed during the later era of Antiquity.

Museum Collection

The Venus of Brassempouy is lodged at the Musee d'Archeologie Nationale near Paris, and is usually accessible to the public only during short temporary exhibitions of Stone Age art. A replica is on display in the Maison de la Dame at Brassempouy, along with replicas of the other figurines unearthed from the Grotte du Pape, as well as other famous works of Paleolithic art and culture, such as the Venuses of Willendorf, Lespugue, Mal'ta and Dolní Vestonice.

Note: these venuses are not connected with the Lower Paleolithic figurines known as the Venus of Berekhat Ram and the Venus of Tan-Tan.

• For the earliest art of prehistory, see: Bhimbetka Petroglyphs.
• See also: Top 50 Oldest Works of Art
• For the origins of painting and sculpture, see: Art Encyclopedia.