INNOVATION ALERT: Dutch painter named Jan van Eyck perfected the formula for oil-based paint in the 1400s, and it quickly spread throughout Europe.
With oil, artists could spend days refining details until they looked just right. Compare that with the minutes they had with
tempera paint and frescos.
Do you think that oil paint met the Renaissance desire to paint more realistically, or did it create that desire? |
The lure of
oil paint is irresistible, isn't it? Such
color, such
detail, such
realism! Never before has
a saint been painted with the
breath of life as this one will be! Now,
who shall create this masterpiece of yours?
