A collaborative study by researchers from Dartmouth College and the University of Cambridge (USA) has identified what appears to be the earliest representation of an Acheulean hand axe within Jean Fouquet’s painting TheMelenDuo, dating to roughly 1455. The findings were published in the Cambridge Journal of Archaeology, contributing a fresh perspective to the interpretation of early tool symbolism in Renaissance art.
Today the scene is understood as a single work that is split between two locations, with the left panel housed in Berlin and the right panel in Antwerp. For generations, scholars believed the two halves formed a diptych, but contemporary analysis confirms that the two boards originally came from the same tree and were reconfigured during the painting process. This realization shifts how the artwork is read as a whole, suggesting a deliberate linking of disparate elements within a single narrative framework.
On the left panel, a figure cloaked in red is depicted in prayer. This character has been identified as Etienne Chevalier, a French treasurer and diplomat who provided counsel to the court. Nearby stands St. Stephen, a central Christian martyr, depicted with the New Testament resting beneath a stone placed on the book. The composition mirrors the silhouette of the Acheulean axe, unveiling a possible symbolic connection between death and the enduring memory of the martyrdom associated with St. Stephen. This parallel invites viewers to consider the painting as a meditation on salvation, memory, and the passage from ancient tools to modern belief systems.
Scholars have long debated the social roles of early humans, with new interpretations proposing that women participated in hunting activities during prehistoric periods. The evolving discussion reflects a broader effort to reconstruct daily life and social structure across ancient communities. The painting’s detail becomes a catalyst for examining how prehistoric life and later artistic representations intersect, inviting fresh inquiry into the continuity between early human behavior and later cultural expressions. In this context, Fouquet’s work is read not merely as a portrait of religious or courtly life but as a repository of layered meanings that span several eras.
Further study of TheMelenDuo continues to illuminate how Renaissance artists incorporated archaeological motifs and material culture into religious and royal iconography. The convergence of a tool form with a sacred narrative offers a compelling example of how material relics from antiquity can be repurposed to convey complex moral and social messages. The research underscores the value of cross-disciplinary perspectives, drawing on art history, archaeology, and anthropology to interpret visual symbolism with greater depth. The investigation remains a vivid illustration of how the past can be reinterpreted through the lens of later artistic production, revealing stable motifs that persist across centuries and cultures. Attribution: Cambridge Journal of Archaeology