{"id":20269,"date":"2024-02-28T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-02-28T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/areademo.beculture.it\/?p=20269"},"modified":"2024-03-11T16:33:07","modified_gmt":"2024-03-11T15:33:07","slug":"birth-of-oil-painting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/areademo.beculture.it\/en\/birth-of-oil-painting\/","title":{"rendered":"Oil painting: the revolutionary technique of the Renaissance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Understanding and appreciating an artwork goes beyond knowing its author, subject, and the era it comes from. There’s a fourth element that’s just as crucial: the technique. It’s not merely about categorizing a piece as a painting or a sculpture; one must delve into the specifics – what materials were used, the surfaces worked upon, and the tools employed. The chosen method of execution not only shapes the final piece but also serves as a testament to the artist’s prowess.
This holds particularly true for oil painting<\/strong>, a practice that, from its inception during the Renaissance, has significantly altered the course of art history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Giorgio Vasari, in the opening of chapter 21 of his Vite<\/em>, wholeheartedly praises this technique that emerged more than fifty years prior: “The discovery of oil-based color was a splendid invention and a great boon for the art of painting,” he pens. “This approach to coloring makes the hues more vibrant, and all it requires is dedication and passion. Oil yields a gentler, more nuanced, and delicate hue, allowing for easier blending and soft transitions. When applied fresh, the colors seamlessly merge, endowing the craftsmen’s figures with exquisite grace, vivacity, and robustness. Their work becomes so lifelike that the figures seem to emerge from the canvas, particularly when underscored by excellent design, creativity, and style.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, let’s explore the origins and evolution of oil painting<\/strong> and examine its impactful legacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is oil painting and how it differs from tempera<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

To fully appreciate the significance of oil painting, it’s crucial to grasp its essence and how it stands apart from techniques that appear similar, such as tempera painting. The art of painting is a triad: the pigment, the binder that secures it to the surface, and the surface itself.
Oil painting is characterized by blending pigments with fatty substances like walnut, linseed, or poppy seed oil<\/strong> to create a thick and sticky consistency. These oils undergo a purification process to remove mucilage, which leads to yellowing, and are deacidified to maintain the vibrancy of whites, greens, and blues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For sheer tints and to moderate the drying pace, painters add plant-based essential oils<\/strong>, like turpentine essence from distilled conifer resins, or lavender, spike, or rosemary oils. Paintings can be crafted on various mediums, including wood, metal, or fabric. We’ll soon explore the intertwined histories of oil painting and canvas, the latter becoming the canvas of choice in the 14th<\/sup> and 15th<\/sup> centuries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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La Gioconda<\/em>, Leonardo da Vinci<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Tempera painting<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

As for tempera, the term (from \u201ctemperare\u201d) traditionally means to mix colors to the right consistency using water<\/strong> and a binding agent like egg, milk, fig latex, glue, gum, or wax<\/strong> – anything but oil.
This definition, however, isn’t exhaustive since historical tempera paintings occasionally contained oily substances. Vasari even referred to mixtures of oil and varnish as tempera.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tempera is essentially of two kinds:<\/p>\n\n\n\n