The Origin and Early Development of Oil Painting

The embryonic form of oil painting first appeared in the 12th century, when European painters began to mix mineral pigments with vegetable oil to create paint for decorating religious murals and wooden icons. However, the real systematic formation and popularization of oil painting technology occurred in the Northern Renaissance in the 15th century. The Flemish painter Jan van Eyck is universally recognized as the founder of modern oil painting. He optimized the traditional oil-pigment ratio, improved the drying speed and color saturation of pigments, and created a complete set of oil painting creation processes including layered coloring, glazing, and fine depiction. Before the maturity of oil painting, European art was dominated by tempera painting, which had dull colors, poor ductility, and was easy to crack and fade. The emergence of oil painting completely changed this situation. It had bright and lasting colors, strong covering power, and flexible brushstroke expression, which could meet the artistic pursuit of realistic depiction in the Renaissance. In the early stage of development, oil paintings were mainly used for religious themes and noble portrait decoration, serving religious propaganda and aristocratic aesthetic needs. With the spread of trade and artistic exchanges, oil painting technology gradually spread from Flanders to Italy, France, and other European countries, laying a solid foundation for the prosperity of European classical oil painting art.