The Cave of the Trois-Frères is a cave

Cave

A cave or cavern is a natural underground space large enough for a human to enter. The term applies to natural cavities some part of which is in total darkness. The word cave also includes smaller spaces like rock shelters, sea caves, and grottos.Speleology is the science of exploration and study...

 in southwestern France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 famous for its cave painting

Cave painting

Cave paintings are paintings on cave walls and ceilings, and the term is used especially for those dating to prehistoric times. The earliest European cave paintings date to the Aurignacian, some 32,000 years ago. The purpose of the paleolithic cave paintings is not known...

s. It is located in Montesquieu-Avantès

Montesquieu-Avantès

Montesquieu-Avantès is a commune in the Ariège department in southwestern France.-Population:-References:*...

, in the Ariège

Ariège

Ariège is a department in southwestern France named after the Ariège River.- History :Ariège is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from the counties of Foix and Couserans....

 département.

One of these, called "The Sorcerer"

The Sorcerer (cave art)

The Sorcerer is one name for an enigmatic cave painting found in the cavern known as 'The Sanctuary' at Trois-Frères, Ariège, France, made around 13,000 BC. The figure's significance is unknown, but it is usually interpreted as some kind of great spirit or master of the animals...

 is as familiar as any art in the more famous cave of Lascaux

Lascaux

Lascaux is the setting of a complex of caves in southwestern France famous for its Paleolithic cave paintings. The original caves are located near the village of Montignac, in the department of Dordogne. They contain some of the best-known Upper Paleolithic art. These paintings are estimated to be...

. The cave also contained two finely modelled bison. The cave is part of a single cave-complex with the Tuc d'Audoubert, both galleries formed by the Volp River.

The cave art appears to date to approximately 13,000 BC.

The cave is named for the three sons of Comte

Comte

Comte is a title of Catalan, Occitan and French nobility. In the English language, the title is equivalent to count, a rank in several European nobilities. The corresponding rank in England is earl...

 Bégouen who discovered it in 1914. (In French

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

: trois frères means "three brothers".) The drawings of the cave were made famous in the publications of the Abbé Henri Breuil

Henri Breuil

Henri Édouard Prosper Breuil , often referred to as Abbé Breuil, was a French Catholic priest, archaeologist, anthropologist, ethnologist and geologist...

.