What I have briefly described are but a few of Lascaux’s truly amazing images, some of which in their lineaments, execution, and beauty are unsurpassed in historical art. In Lascaux, humankind’s greatest endowment, imagination, is initiated, empowered, and fully realized. It is arguably the most spiritual spot on earth.

Lascaux was rediscovered in the fall of 1940 by several teenage boys, altered (without archeological investigation) for visitors eight years later, thronged by tourists for some fifteen years, then closed to the general public (because of deterioration), in 1963, at which time the cave was scientifically equipped to permit small groups of specialists to make brief visits. This procedure worked until 1999 when it appears that Philippe Oudin, the Architect-in-chief of Historic Monuments, who had no previous experience with caves, decided to replace the old passive air-conditioning equipment (which had worked perfectly for nearly forty years), with a new high-powered system. Soon after the new equipment was sloppily installed, with inadequate supervision, by a company that had never done such work before, various molds and fungi began to proliferate throughout the 235 meter cave, covering some of the paintings and many of the engravings.

Eleven years later, the cave is in far worse shape than it was in 1999 and none of the bureaucracies involved in the cave’s health have taken responsibility for its condition, nor facilitated a new scientific investigation of its climatological problems. What follows is a time line setting forth Lascaux’s tragic historical adventure.

A painting of the Giant Deer from Lascaux
(Lascaux Caves, France, 2009)
PHOTO COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

1940: On the 12^th of September, Lascaux is discovered by four teenagers near the town of Montignac in the French Dordogne. Two of the boys (Marcel Ravidat, 1923-1995, and Jacques Marsal, 1926-1989), become caretakers and guides at the cave. During World War II, the French Resistance stores weapons in Lascaux.

1947: The cave is modified for public access: the entrance is widened, steps and concrete flooring are installed (with no archeological investigation of the cave’s sediments) along with electricity and a metal door.

1955: Due to the huge number of visitors (at its peak, 2,000 per day), the raised temperatures alter the cave’s humidity. Sometimes tourists faint due to the tainted atmosphere. Water vapors condense and run down the walls. Pollen and spores are brought in on the visitors’ shoes.

1958: An air-conditioning system is installed to remove carbon dioxide from the air, and to lower the temperature, allowing the visitors to breathe. However, the new machine blows pollen and spores everywhere. A year later, colonies of algae (referred to as the “green sickness”) are proliferating on the walls and some paintings.

1960-1962: The “green sickness” continues to spread. At one point, the “Falling Horse” at the back of the Axial Gallery is disappearing in a “prairie” of greenish algae. Opaque crystals of calcite (referred to as the “white sickness”) are also noticed on some of the paintings. This problem is created by the levels of carbon dioxide, humidity and temperature brought about by the presence of visitors.

1963: It is decided to return the cave to its original condition. The air-conditioning machine is shut off, and the cave is closed to the public. Antibiotics and diluted formalin stop the “green sickness.” With the end of daily visitors, the “white sickness” disappears. The Minister of Culture, André Malraux, appoints a scientific commission to “study the changes inside the cave, find remedies, and bring the cave back to stable conditions.”