Construction of the panels

Stratigraphic analysis of the figures allows us to understand how the graphic ensembles were constructed and to reconstruct the sequence of actions. Creation of the Unicorn and the groups of horses, stags and aurochs in the Hall of the Bulls took place in several stages; in chronological order, they are as follows:

• Frieze of the Black Horses
• The Unicorn
• The polychrome horse and the horse images that appear on the Unicorn's flank and between the horns of the first two large bulls
• The four large complete bulls and the bull heads
• The red cows and calf
• Frieze of the Small Stags
• The bear appeared at the end of the process, but we are not able to determine its exact chronological place with respect to the stags

In the Axial Gallery, the first segment follows this same logical sequence. Both of the three - horse friezes - that of the Chinese Horses and its mirror image on the opposite wall – predate the group of the four female aurochs. An identical chronological sequence can also be observed for the Panel of the Swimming Stags – in which the horse was depicted first – but also on the Panel of the Great Black Cow and the Panel of the Imprint, in which the bovines, aurochs and bison appeared later that the images of the horses.
This logic, based on the three main themes, can be extended to the entire sanctuary. The fact that the same sequence – in which the horses are drawn first, followed by bulls and then cervids – is found everywhere implies a very great consistency in the iconographic construction of the sanctuary, as well as a remarkable temporal structuring.