Self-portrait with Maid and The Falling Horse of Lascaux
Recently confirmed by several sources, many of the early cave paintings suggest that they were created by women. In an article by National Geographic titled Were the First Artists Mostly Women? recent research from hand stencils in caves has revealed that women created most of the oldest-known cave paintings. Archaeologist Dean Snow analysed hand stencils from eight cave sites in Spain and France. He discovered that 24 of the 32 hands were indeed female. [1]Dave Whitley from an archaeological consulting firm in California states “this is the first time anyone’s synthesized a good body of evidence” reaffirming Snow’s findings. Whitley goes on to state that “most of the art was made by shamans who went into trances to try to connect with the spirit world.” Many of the works of art could have a spiritual connection.
From Paul Pettitt’s book titled The Archaeology of Darkness Pettitt goes in depth on the artistic approaches used by paleolithic Europeans in a chapter titled Darkness visible. Shadows, art and the ritual experience of caves in Upper Palaeolithic Europe. In this chapter he talks about a work of art by an unknown artist (most likely a woman) titled The Falling Horse of Lascaux created during the paleolithic era. This work of art depicts a main figurine of a horse that is in the midst of falling through open space –– situated so that only the front half of the horse is visible and the latter half is missing as the horse ‘falls’ into darkness. [2]In addition, there are smaller horses that are heading towards this space, about to join the main horse: “...the whole scene suggesting animals entering or leaving this world via the darkness.” This isn’t a new scene in works of art found in ancient caves, “...such transitions into and out of the darkness can be found in many caves: Groenen (ibid., 206), for example, notes two cervids in the lower gallery of La Pasiega Cave which are oriented towards a ‘mouth of shadow’ created by an aperture in the cave’s wall.” Not only were these early artists (most of which now discovered to be women) able to create these detailed paintings on their own accord, they were also able to understand the associations of light and dark in order to use these values to their advantage in creating emotion.
Sofonisba Anguissola was born into a noble family in northern Italy during the year 1535. Unlike typical women during the Renaissance, Anguissola’s father sent her off at a young age to study from the artist Bernardino Campi. Campi exposed Anguissola to the fundamentals of painting. [3]During the Renaissance in Italy, women were in fact barred from becoming apprentices –– the mainstream way in which to become an artist yourself. It is during this apprenticeship that Anguissola creates her work Self-portrait with Maid, 1561. In addition, four of Anguissola’s sisters were also raised to be trained painters. Anguissola was raised to be a virtuosa –– a talented and behaved woman. Proving this, Anguissola demonstrates her virtuosa in many of her paintings.
In Anguissola’s painting Self-portrait with Maid several hidden messages are found as we delve into the cultural framework of the time. Anguissola is seen playing the piano as she looks directly at the audience. Anguissola’s maid stands beside and slightly behind her in the self-portrait. Clearly Anguissola is a well versed piano player, not needing to look at the piano keys as she plays –– living up to being a virtuosa. I now want to draw your attention to the maid in the image. The maid falls into darkness as she makes sure Anguissola is playing the piano as she should be. However, the maid isn’t looking at Anguissola, she is looking at us, the audience. As we gaze at Anguissola, the maid watches us –– protecting Anguissola and making sure we do not sexualize her.
Anguissola had ideal conditions in which she was able to create her art. It is also clear that due to her apprenticeship, Anguissola created Self-portrait with Maid in an institutional setting. However, in contrast, the artists behind early cave paintings, like The Falling Horse of Lascaux, were not under ideal conditions to create works of art. Living in caves or small huts, paleolithic humans collected resources through hunting and gathering –– using only basic tools made of stones and bones.
Furthermore, The Falling Horse of Lascaux, was most likely not commissioned or ordered by someone –– it was created at one's own convenience. There’s a possibility the painter was asked to create the scene, but I believe this to be unlikely. Why would someone choose to create this image of falling horses? As previously mentioned, the scene is suggesting that the horses are entering or leaving this world via the darkness. This seems to emulate a possible spiritual meaning, possibly an afterlife or transition from life to death and vice versa. [4]This also speaks to the cultural influences of the time: “The notion that supernatural powers inhabit rock is widespread among small-scale societies...caves are commonly seen as ‘osmotic membranes’ separating this world from others.” This immediately brings light into why the painter of The Falling Horse of Lascaux used the darkness in the cave as a sort of transportation: “In mythologies across the world, caves are associated with animals that frequent their nooks and crannies - snakes, lizards, and bears - who are seen as capable of travelling between worlds”.
[5] Since the artists behind these cave paintings deliberately used light and shadow to heighten their works, they sought out to find specific areas of the caves to do their paintings on: “...the interaction of darkness and topography often predetermined the location and nature of the graphic space onto which art was created.” This was no simple feat. The artists behind these cave paintings had to travel and search for their canvas, whereas Anguissola always had a canvas readily available. This searching and deliberation was a part of the art.
The production of Anguissola’s painting supported the cultural framing of gender during the Renaissance. This is due to Anguissola including her maid watching the audience and protecting her from being sexualized. On the contrary, The Falling Horse of Lascaux is not known to rebel or support the cultural framing of gender during the palaeolithic time period. The work of art does not appear to have a specific humanistic gender association, as it depicts horses.
The women that created these works of art, Sofonisba Anguissola’s Self-portrait with Maid and the painter of The Falling Horse of Lascaux, were under extremely different circumstances. Anguissola created Self-portrait with Maid as a glimpse into her Renaissance life and cultural framing of women during the time period. The painter of The Falling Horse of Lascaux created the work for spiritual reasons to demonstrate the power of caves capable of joining different worlds.
[1] Virginia Hughes, “Were the First Artists Mostly Women?” National Geographic, (2013): 1-4, accessed October 1, 2020.
[2] Paul Pettitt, “Darkness Visible.: Shadows, Art and the Ritual Experience of Caves in Upper
Palaeolithic Europe,” in The Archaeology of Darkness, ed. Dowd Marion and Hensey Robert (Oxford; Philadelphia: Oxbow Books, 2016), 19.
Palaeolithic Europe,” in The Archaeology of Darkness, ed. Dowd Marion and Hensey Robert (Oxford; Philadelphia: Oxbow Books, 2016), 19.
[3] Heather Graham and Lauren Kilroy-Ewbank, “Sofonisba Anguissola (Article) | Mannerism,” Khan Academy (Khan Academy), accessed October 1, 2020,
[4] Paul Pettitt, “Darkness Visible.: Shadows, Art and the Ritual Experience of Caves in Upper
Palaeolithic Europe,” in The Archaeology of Darkness, ed. Dowd Marion and Hensey Robert (Oxford; Philadelphia: Oxbow Books, 2016), 19.
Palaeolithic Europe,” in The Archaeology of Darkness, ed. Dowd Marion and Hensey Robert (Oxford; Philadelphia: Oxbow Books, 2016), 19.
[5] Paul Pettitt, “Darkness Visible.: Shadows, Art and the Ritual Experience of Caves in Upper
Palaeolithic Europe,” in The Archaeology of Darkness, ed. Dowd Marion and Hensey Robert (Oxford; Philadelphia: Oxbow Books, 2016), 11-23.
Palaeolithic Europe,” in The Archaeology of Darkness, ed. Dowd Marion and Hensey Robert (Oxford; Philadelphia: Oxbow Books, 2016), 11-23.