| Some of the oldest civilizations like the Roman, Greek, | | | | from minerals. His technique of using oil paints |
| and Egyptian used painting techniques quite a bit. | | | | revolutionized the world of painting. The paintings |
| These civilizations used mixtures made from mineral | | | | ended up being more brilliant and translucent with a |
| pigments mixed in bee wax and tempera. Although the | | | | high intensity of color. This gave the paintings an |
| ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans knew about | | | | enameled look, which is visible even today in van |
| vegetable oils, there is no evidence of them having | | | | Eyck's paintings. |
| used it painting. However, they did use tempera, which | | | | Then Antonello da Messina was instrumental in |
| is a fluid made from an organic binder, water and | | | | introducing a new technical improvement to oil paintings. |
| essential oils from vegetables. The organic binders | | | | He used lead oxide in the mixture of pigment and oil to |
| used by Italians were primarily derived from animal | | | | help enhance the drying property of the paint. |
| sources like whole eggs, milk and animal glue. | | | | After that came Leonardo da Vinci, who cooked the |
| However, from the end of the Roman Empire until the | | | | pigment oil mixture at low temperatures after adding |
| Renaissance in the 15th century, this ancient technique | | | | bee wax to it. This prevented the resultant mixture |
| of painting was more or less lost. Instead, artists used | | | | from getting a dark color. |
| oil painting and tempera. In Italy and Greece, olive oil | | | | The Italians artists were instrumental in modifying the |
| was used to make mixtures from pigments. However, | | | | original oil paint recipe, but they managed to keep it a |
| this mixture took a long time to dry. As a result, in the | | | | secret for nearly three centuries. This would explain |
| 12 century, it led a German monk named Theophilus to | | | | why the Italian artists reined over entire Europe with |
| warn painters against the use of paint made from olive | | | | their brilliance and artistry. |
| oil. In the 5th century, a medical writer named Aetius | | | | In 1600, Rubens moved to Italy and lived there for 9 |
| Arnideus mentions the use of drying oil like varnish on | | | | years. He took to studying the painting medium used in |
| paintings in his writings. In the 8th century, Perilla oil was | | | | Italy and then made his own improvements to it. |
| used in Japan after lead was added to it. While in the | | | | Thereafter, every generation of painters has made its |
| 14th century, Cennino Cennini was instrumental in | | | | own improvement in the painting medium, and today |
| showing a technique where tempera painting was | | | | vegetal and non-edible oils are used in paints to help |
| covered by a light layer of oil. | | | | the paint dry faster. The oils most commonly used are |
| In the book entitled Lives of the Artists by Giorgio | | | | tung oil, oiticica oil, perilla oil, poppyseed oil, soybean oil, |
| Vasari published in 1550, it was mentioned that the oil | | | | sunflower oil, dehydrated castor oil and numerous fish |
| painting technique that is used today (with slight | | | | oils. Today, iodine number is used to classify drying oils, |
| modifications of course) was invested by Jan van | | | | with iodine number more that 130 is considered to be a |
| Eyck, a Flemish painter, around 1410. It is believed that | | | | drying oil, between 130 and 115 as semi drying, and less |
| van Eyck was the first painter to use oil paint in which | | | | than 115 as non-drying. |
| linseed oil was used as binder for the pigments derived | | | | |