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The Feline Head, Venus of Willendorf and Paleolithic Art Term Paper ART 101

The Paleolithic era was extremely significant to the history of both art and humans. This was the very first time that mankind purposely and knowingly created pictorial imagery in an effort to represent the world around them. The very first artist of our world contributed to a variety of art forms, including necklaces made of shells, depictions of animals and humans composed of clay, ivory, and stone, in addition to full-sized murals and sculptures found throughout caves.1 Some of the very first paintings made by men that we have discovered are of African origin. However, European Art belonging to the Paleolithic period is far older than the African specifically Namibian Cave paintings. Additionally, these paintings and sculptures are credited as being some of the earliest examples of European paintings and sculptures. The vast majority of prehistoric sculptures depict either animals or humans almost exclusively of women as opposed to men. The figurines created in early history such as Human with feline head and Venus of Willendorf are remarkable achievements by early humans because they didn’t let the limited resources or their way of life get in the way of creativity. Human with feline head is one of the oldest preserved sculptures made of mammoth ivory which may date back as far as 30,000 BCE. It was found in fragments inside a cave at Hohlenstein-Stadel in Germany and has been precisely restored. It is uncertain whether the work depicts a composite creature or a human wearing an animal mask. It is almost a foot tall and a pretty big sculpture for its era. The animal headed humans of Paleolithic art sometimes have been called sorcerers and described as magicians wearing masks or interpreted as humans dressed up as animals.2 The unknown sculptor represents their vivid imagination through this unique statuette. It was intricately carved into shape by rubbing it on a sandstone and sharp

1 Kleiner, Fred S., Helen Gardner, Marta Lee-Perriard, Lianne Ames, and Laura Hildebrand. Gardners Art through the Ages: a Global History. 16th ed. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning, 2018, p. 16 2 Kleiner, Fred S., Helen Gardner, Marta Lee-Perriard, Lianne Ames, and Laura Hildebrand. Gardners Art through the Ages: a Global History. 16th ed. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning, 2018, p. 17

object like chisel was used to engrave details. The maker must have gone through great difficulty to create this statuette. The statuette reveals some remarkable details. Head, shoulders, elbows, knees and heels have been carved in a very naturalistic fashion.3 They had to create tools to be able to work on mammoth ivory which is difficult to carve. Historians believe manufacturing this was a complicated process and it must have been very important to the sculptor but we will never know the reason behind it. Some researchers perceive this sculpture to be of female gender. If that is the case, this similarity would align with that of Venus of Willendorf which also depicts a woman. This further emphasizes the significance of women in the Paleolithic era as depicted through art. Venus of Willendorf is also a figurine from Paleolithic era which was created around 28,000–25,000 BCE and discovered in 1908, in a village in Austria called Willendorf. It’s a small female figurine about 11cm high and symmetrical in shape made out of limestone. When archaeologists first discovered Paleolithic statuettes of women, they dubbed them “Venuses,” after the Greco-Roman goddess of beauty and love, whom artists usually depicted nude.4 The sculptor did not aim for naturalism in shape or proportion and also did not carve any facial features. The head of the Willendorf figurine offers the clearest evidence that what we see here is a depiction of headgear— a fiber-based woven cap or hat—rather than a hairdo.5 It has no feet so it was not meant to stand up and it comfortably fits in a hand so it was meant for being held or carried. Similar to other European figurines of its time, such as Lespugue Venus of France, Venus Willendorf portrays an exaggerated female anatomy, specifically feminine features such as 3 Kind, C.-J & Ebinger-Rist, N. & Wolf, Sibylle & Beutelspacher, T. & Wehrberger, K.. (2014). The smile of the Lion Man. Recent excavations in Stadel Cave (Baden-Württemberg, southwestern Germany) and the restoration of the famous Upper Palaeolithic figurine. Quartär. 61. 129-145. 10.7485/QU61-07. P. 140 4 Kleiner, Fred S., Helen Gardner, Marta Lee-Perriard, Lianne Ames, and Laura Hildebrand. Gardners Art through the Ages: a Global History. 16th ed. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning, 2018, p. 18 5 Soffer, O., J. M. Adovasio, and D. C. Hyland. "The “Venus” Figurines: Textiles, Basketry, Gender, and Status in the Upper Paleolithic." Current Anthropology 41, no. 4 (2000): P518. doi:10.1086/317381.

breasts, stomach, and genitals. The arms and feet appear miniature and largely contrast with the large breast and belly. Exaggeration of these feminine features aided scholars in concluding that the Venus of Willendorf was related to fertility. In fact, its function is thought to have been in relation to fertility. When comparing the two sculptures the Venus of Willendorf is almost 1/3 in size compared to human with feline head. Both pieces represent portable art in a nomadic society. They are both made out of different material and required special tools to carve the sculptures. The unusual shape for both reflects the symbolism and creativity in early man. The human with feline head is a merged figure, which means it is composed of 2 forms- animal and human but the Venus of Willendorf is naturalistic female sculpture. The fiber based woven cap or hat shows that the community was skilled at working with fibers. We can only speculate the importance of these figurines as there is no written account for its purpose. After visiting the museum and doing research on the two sculptures I have come to a conclusion that what may not be important to me now could help reshape future for the next generations. If these unknown artists hadn’t gone through the trouble of capturing what life was like thousands of years ago, we would never know the life they lived or what they experienced. We will probably never know the real purpose behind these but we can continue to imagine the time period and based on our perception create a story. What also surprised me is the small size of these figurines and I imagined what could possibly have been the actual purpose for these. Could they have been toys for the kids, cave decor or possible a religious symbol. -

reflect the Both artist focust of the details to get their message across. They were created so it can easily be transpoted and if ritual was performed they can carry it around for whatever

reasons. Comparing the two figures the creativity and capturing the thought and special meaning behind these figurines. Both are created from different material and technique.

perception affect creativity.

Works Cited Kind, C.-J & Ebinger-Rist, N. & Wolf, Sibylle & Beutelspacher, T. & Wehrberger, K.. (2014). The smile of the Lion Man. Recent excavations in Stadel Cave (Baden-Württemberg, southwestern Germany) and the restoration of the famous Upper Palaeolithic figurine. Quartär. 61. 129-145. Doi:10.7485/QU61-07.

Kleiner, Fred S., Helen Gardner, Marta Lee-Perriard, Lianne Ames, and Laura Hildebrand. Gardners Art through the Ages: a Global History. 16th ed. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning, 2018.

Soffer, O., J. M. Adovasio, and D. C. Hyland. "The “Venus” Figurines: Textiles, Basketry, Gender, and Status in the Upper Paleolithic." Current Anthropology 41, no. 4 (2000): 511-37. doi:10.1086/317381....