This article is over 9 years old

Houston Matters

Exhibit Brings Replicas of World’s Oldest Art to Houston

In September of 1940 four French boys discovered a long-forgotten cave full of prehistoric art. The Lascaux Cave, as it’s now known, has been dubbed the “Sistine Chapel of Pre-history,” because it’s adorned with ancient frescos of bulls, deer and bison. The caves have been closed to the public since the 1960s to protect them, […]

Share

Image Courtesy: Sisse Brimberg, National Geographic

In September of 1940 four French boys discovered a long-forgotten cave full of prehistoric art. The Lascaux Cave, as it’s now known, has been dubbed the “Sistine Chapel of Pre-history,” because it’s adorned with ancient frescos of bulls, deer and bison. The caves have been closed to the public since the 1960s to protect them, but to make them accessible to an international public several exact replicas of some of the paintings were made — a set of which is on display through March 23 at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. Houston Public Media’s Ernie Manouse took a tour of the exhibit with the museum’s Amanda Norris who says the pieces are replicas of some of the oldest artwork known to exist – about 20,000 years old.

Listen

To embed this piece of audio in your site, please use this code:

<iframe src="https://embed.hpm.io/1/208148" style="height: 115px; width: 100%;"></iframe>
X

More: You can see Ernie’s entire piece on the Lascaux Caves on Arts InSight, Thursday night at 7 on Houston PBS.

Virtual Tour of the Lascaux Caves:


Â

Today in Houston Newsletter Signup
We're in the process of transitioning services for our Today in Houston newsletter. If you'd like to sign up now, fill out the form below and we will add you as soon as we finish the transition. **Please note** If you are already signed up for the newsletter, you do not need to sign up again. Your subscription will be migrated over.
Michael Hagerty

Michael Hagerty

Senior Producer, Houston Matters

Michael Hagerty is the senior producer for Houston Matters. He's spent more than 20 years in public radio and television and dabbled in minor league baseball, spending four seasons as the public address announcer for the Reno Aces, the Triple-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

More Information