The Cave

Cro Magnon man 14,000 years ago painted beautiful pictures of horses and bison in the Cave of Altamira in northern Spain, the so-called "Sistine Chapel of prehistoric art". The paintings of Altamira are thus among the earliest paintings by mankind which qualify as fine art. They feature grace of line, subtle shading, color, depth cues, and even three dimensionality, using the natural contours of the rock as bas relief. Altamira Software Corporation was named for this cave.