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Venus of Brassempouy |
![]() Venus of Brassempouy (23,000 BCE). First venus to display facial features: first Stone Age Portrait. |
Venus of BrassempouyThe Upper Paleolithic Venus of Brassempouy is a surviving fragment of an ivory statuette (broken in Antiquity) which was unearthed in 1892 at Brassempouy, in the département of Landes in southwest France in 1892. Dated to about 23,000 years BCE, it is one of the very few detailed representations of a human face of the Stone Age era, and possibly the earliest known. It belongs to the European tradition of miniature "Venus Figurines" as exemplified by the Russian Venus of Kostenky, and the Austrian Venus of Willendorf. 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". |
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PREHISTORIC ART
in IRELAND |
Description and Composition 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 Statuettes The Venus of Brassempouy was created during the same period as several other similar figurines, including the Venuses of Dolní Vestonice (Czech Republic), Willendorf (Austria), Lespugue (France), Savignano (Italy) 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 Display The Venus of Brassempouy is lodged at the Musée d'Archéologie 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 venus sculptures from the Upper Paleolithic: such as those from 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. |
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For the earliest
art of prehistory, see: Bhimbetka
Petroglyphs. To update this mini-review of the Venus of Brassempouy, click here. HOME
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