History of Sculpture (Europe)
History of Sculpture
Prehistoric Periods
Much surviving prehistoric art is small portable sculptures, with a small group of female Venus figurines such as the Venus of Willendorf (24,000–22,000 BC) found across central Europe; the 30 cm tall Lion man of the Hohlenstein Stadel of about 30,000 BCE has hardly any pieces that can be related to it. The Swimming Reindeer of about 11,000 BCE is one of the finest of a number of Magdalenian carvings in bone or antler of animals in the art of the Upper Paleolithic, though they are outnumbered by engraved pieces, which are sometimes classified as sculpture. With the beginning of the Mesolithic in Europe figurative sculpture greatly reduced, and remained a less common element in art than relief decoration of practical objects until the Roman period, despite some works such as the Gundestrup cauldron from the European Iron Age and the Bronze Age Trundholm sun chariot.
Venus of Hohle Fels (also known as the Venus of Schelklingen; is an Upper Paleolithic Venus figurine hewn from ivory of a mammoth tusk found in 2008 near Schelklingen, Germany. It is dated to between 35,000 and 40,000 years ago, belonging to the early Aurignacian, at the very beginning of the Upper Paleolithic, which is associated with the assumed earliest presence of Homo sapiens in Europe (Cro-Magnon). It is the oldest undisputed example of Upper Paleolithic art and figurative prehistoric art in general.
30,000 BC – 26,000 BC (Aurignacian Era) – Lion Man, from Hohlenstein – Stadel, Germany (now in Ulmer Museum), the oldest known zoomorphic statuette.
24,000 BC – 22,000 BC - Venus of Willendorf (Austria)
Magdalenian Horse, c. 15,000 BCEMusée d'Archéologie Nationale, France
Creeping Hyena, c. 12,000 to 17,000 years ago, mammoth ivory, found in La Madeleine, France
Swimming Reindeer c. 11,000 BCE, female and male swimming reindeer - late Magdalenian period, approximately 12,500 years old found at Montastruc, Tarn et Garonne, France
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Prehistoric Periods
Much surviving prehistoric art is small portable sculptures, with a small group of female Venus figurines such as the Venus of Willendorf (24,000–22,000 BC) found across central Europe; the 30 cm tall Lion man of the Hohlenstein Stadel of about 30,000 BCE has hardly any pieces that can be related to it. The Swimming Reindeer of about 11,000 BCE is one of the finest of a number of Magdalenian carvings in bone or antler of animals in the art of the Upper Paleolithic, though they are outnumbered by engraved pieces, which are sometimes classified as sculpture. With the beginning of the Mesolithic in Europe figurative sculpture greatly reduced, and remained a less common element in art than relief decoration of practical objects until the Roman period, despite some works such as the Gundestrup cauldron from the European Iron Age and the Bronze Age Trundholm sun chariot.
Venus of Hohle Fels (also known as the Venus of Schelklingen; is an Upper Paleolithic Venus figurine hewn from ivory of a mammoth tusk found in 2008 near Schelklingen, Germany. It is dated to between 35,000 and 40,000 years ago, belonging to the early Aurignacian, at the very beginning of the Upper Paleolithic, which is associated with the assumed earliest presence of Homo sapiens in Europe (Cro-Magnon). It is the oldest undisputed example of Upper Paleolithic art and figurative prehistoric art in general.
30,000 BC – 26,000 BC (Aurignacian Era) – Lion Man, from Hohlenstein – Stadel, Germany (now in Ulmer Museum), the oldest known zoomorphic statuette.
24,000 BC – 22,000 BC - Venus of Willendorf (Austria)
Magdalenian Horse, c. 15,000 BCEMusée d'Archéologie Nationale, France
Creeping Hyena, c. 12,000 to 17,000 years ago, mammoth ivory, found in La Madeleine, France
Swimming Reindeer c. 11,000 BCE, female and male swimming reindeer - late Magdalenian period, approximately 12,500 years old found at Montastruc, Tarn et Garonne, France
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