Page 16 - ART AND NATURE IN PREHISTORY. THE COLLECTION OF TRACINGS OF CAVE ART OF THE MUSEO NACIONAL DE CIENCIAS NATURALES

sitessites e three types of rock art discovered in Spain during the more than 20 years of existence of the Commission are displayed in di erent colours, depending on each locality’s type of art.Paleolithic art of the Cantabrian Coast caves was found in the 19th century and studied, published and compared to the paintings of the South of France after the discovery of Altamira. Pacheco describes it as follows:“Figurative prehistoric art starts with troglodyte rock art during the Upper Paleolithic and reaches its full development at the end of this period, in the Magdalenian period, before it extinguished like a light that suddenly goes out.”While discoveries were following one another in the Mediterranean Basin and the South of the Iberian Peninsula, a new concept of art, unknown until then, started to emerge: Levantine art.“...its con dent stroke, simple lines and accurate and realistic expression were praiseworthy”.Cabré, 1915 e concept of schematic art took longer to be explained, as since the 19th century it had been mistaken for hieroglyphic writing. e exhibition goes on to a showing of the sites best represented in the collection, such as the Engravings Wall of Candamo Cave or the second of the Araña Caves, with full-size copies. Original photographs in glass panels and a coloured detail of the famous honey harvest scene are also part of the exhibition.art and nature in prehistory. the collection of rock art tracings of the mncn016