The famous gallery of black prehistoric paintings in the Cave of Niaux is called the Salon Noir.
The Cave of Niaux is in Ariège, in southwestern France, and forms part of a larger cave system that includes Lombrives and Sabart. Its Salon Noir contains vivid Magdalenian paintings, especially black-outlined images of bison, horses, and ibex. Some red signs and details appear as well, but black pigment dominates the gallery.
The paintings were made during the Magdalenian period, broadly between about 17,000 and 11,000 years ago. Charcoal and manganese dioxide were among the materials used for the black imagery. The principal panel is often dated to roughly 13,000 years ago.
The name can be confused with famous galleries elsewhere, such as the Hall of Bulls at Lascaux. “Salon Noir” literally means “Black Room” or “Black Hall” in French. Researchers became especially interested in Niaux after the gallery was identified and a cave plan was published in the nineteenth century.