The Oldest Painting

-Zainab Hafizji

In 2021, the world’s oldest cave painting was discovered by archaeologists in Indonesia. It is a life-sized picture of three wart pigs painted deep in a limestone cave on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi that was made at least 45,500 years ago.

Close-up of the oldest painting in the world. Photo by Adhi Agus Oktaviana.

The ancient images in the Science Advances journal were found in Leang Tedongnge cave. Made with red ochre pigment, and measuring 136cm by 54cm, the painting appears to depict two of the three warty pigs to be fighting. Those two images are badly damaged, but one of the three pigs, possibly watching the drama unfold, remains in near-pristine condition. Two handprints were also found above the pig’s hindquarters.

This painting of three pigs, now thought to be the world’s oldest-known representational art, has been damaged over the millennia, leaving only one figure intact. Photo by Adhi Agus Oktaviana.

Archaeologist Basran Burhan, a Griffith University PhD student, discovered the cave and its prehistoric paintings in December 2017. It’s only accessible during the dry season since the place gets flooded with water during the monsoon.

Adam Brumm from Griffith University was the co-author and co-lead in this project. He was understandably blown away by the paintings when he first saw them. “I was struck dumb”, he told the New Scientist “It’s one of the most spectacular and well-preserved figurative animal paintings known from the whole region, and it just immediately blew me away.”

 The back wall of Leang Tedongnge cave, where the oldest representational painting was found. Photo by Adhi Agus Oktaviana.

Previously, the oldest-known figurative art was actually from a nearby cave, Leang Bulu’Sipong, discovered by the same team. Announced in late 2019, that 43,900-year-old work depicts eight figures with weapons in hand approaching wild pigs and small native buffaloes.

While many archaeologists believe that this is the work of Homo sapiens and not Denisovans (a now-extinct human species), other scientists do not share this belief.

This painting is said to be the “oldest surviving representational image of an animal”. Photo by Maxime Aubert

To know more about the topic read the following articles:
https://news.artnet.com/art-world/indonesia-pig-art-oldest-painting-1937110
https://www.indiatoday.in/trending-news/story/world-s-oldest-known-cave-painting-made-45-500-years-ago-found-in-indonesia-1759318-2021-01-15

Zainab Hafizji

Student

About

Hi,
I’m Zainab. I am a high-school student in a Mass Media course. This course is what led me to create this blog.

I aspire to be a designer in the future. Hence my interest in art. Art has inspired and instigated curiosity in humans for as long as we have existed. The natural beauty around us is what inspired our ancestors and is what inspires us now.

Hope you enjoy reading these! 🙂

Edzy Art

Edzy Art is your one-stop random art knowledge hub. An art-obsessed student will try to fill your mind with art knowledge at one-stop.