• Cartoon and Animation Studies
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• s.45
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• pp.417-434
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• 2016

The wall painting of Altamira cave "eight-legged wild boar" is often presented as a typical example of long-held desire of humanity for expressing movement. However, the eight legs are the product of so-called "double layer", of two paintings painted in different periods. Nonetheless, the explanation of Altamira cave paintings linking with the origin of animation is constantly reproduced without any particular doubt, verification or citation of sources. The fact of associating eight legs with movement is irrelevant to visual perception transcending time. This should be considered a movement expression code invented in a particular period of time. Sequential photography tried in the late 19th century, in particular, chronography of $\acute{E}tienne$-Jules Marey plays a crucial role in this. Marey's photography of which a series of sequence movements are overlapped in one frame and printed was reflected in painting works of artists including Duchamp and Balla in the early 20th century and formed as movement expression code. Animation manuals started to emerge from that period of time introduced the images of Marey's chronophotography as a way of analyzing and embodying the movement. In sum, the act of considering Altamira cave paintings of eight-legged wild boar as an expression of movement is an error intending to look at the past through today's visual code.