| Description : French‐Cantabrian cave art is the name given to a style of
cave art from the Late Palaeolithic period. This art is found in southern France and northern Spain, paintings, reliefs and
drawings, especially on the walls, were created in the course of about 20,000 years (and given the name parietal art). This
ice‐age art is often of high artistic quality. The Stone Age cave paintings created 14,000 to 16,000 years ago in the
Altamira cave near Santillana del Mar in Cantabria, discovered in 1868, depict hunting game. The commemorative motif,
designed by Alfonso Morales Muñoz, shows a bison. The Altamira Cave has been closed to the public since 1979
due to the serious damage to the paintings caused by the warm, humid breath from visitors. At the top of the motif is the
issuing country "ESPAÑA" (Spain), to the right of it the letter "M" adorned with a crown, the mint mark of the
Spanish mint Real Casa de la Moneda in Madrid. At the bottom of the motif is "2015" being the year of issue. |
