![]() Caldwell posited that the physical similarities between the two animal shapes made them ideal candidates for prehistoric artists to superimpose their respective images in the same depiction. In a paper presented at an international conference in rock art in 2010, Caldwell displayed multiple examples of cave drawings and engravings that could be interpreted as portrayals of either woolly mammoths or bison. The deception is perhaps even greater in the case of paleolithic art studied by prehistorian Duncan Caldwell in the cave of Font-de-Gaume and other sites in France. There is evidence that the paleolithic artists that decorated the walls and roof of the Cave of Altamira with horses and bison, some 20,000 years ago, used the natural bulges of the rock to add illusory volume and depth to their depictions. Through human history, artists have devised many clever ways to make audiences perceive flat frescos as having depth, or mere brushstrokes on a canvas as a bowl of fresh fruit. It follows that fascination with illusions could be old as humankind. At first sight, the depiction appears to be of a cow and her calf, but if one blocks the center of the carving, it becomes a portrayal of an adult and a baby elephant.Īncient artistic illusions provide us with vivid examples, not only of human creativity and craftsmanship, but of our early aptitude for flexible thinking-such as our ability to switch our perspective back-and-forth between alternate viewpoints. Credit: William Ely Hill (1887–1962) Wikimedia (left) Fliegende Blätter 1892 Wikimedia (right)Īlso in India, the city of Mahabalipuram is home to a possibly even older ambiguous illusion, sculpted on a pillar some 1300 years ago. The equivocal bas-reliefs in Airavatesvara and Mahabalipuram could be early examples of popular ambiguous designs, such as the duck-and-rabbit, and the old-lady-and-young-lady illusions. Credit: Animation by Daniel Cortes, Martinez-Conde and Macknik Laboratories ![]() But if one eliminates the body and legs of the bull instead, what remains is an elephant facing left. ![]() When the body and legs of the animal on the right are removed, the creature left behind looks like a bull facing right. The Airavatesvara Temple bas-relief depicts the bodies of two different animals, sharing a single head. The creature it represents can be seen as either an elephant or a bull, an ancient example of ambiguous brain teasers such as the duck/rabbit, or the old/young lady illusions. What makes this piece of art remarkable is neither the subject depicted, nor its delicate details, but the fact that it contains one of the oldest examples of illusions in art. The Airavatesvara Temple in India contains an exquisite bas-relief-sculpted at least 850 years ago and remarkably well preserved-which has captured the attention of both art historians and vision scientists.
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