The History of Paint...interesting facts

Arnolfini Wedding by Jan Van Eyck    

In the 1500's Artist moved from egg to walnut oil or linseed oil. Oils dried slower than tempera, allowing for more flexibility in painting.  The development in the use of canvas also changed the art world giving much more freedom for situation and subject for artists. With a new understanding of depth and perspective artists became more interested in realism.  The more varied palette, the freedom of where one painted and the clearer understanding of perspective lead to a wealth of rich paintings in the renaissance. The luminosity of the new paints and so many new colors being used give artists an ability to paint in a way they never had before.
This stuff really fascinates me because in this time we don't often think how seemly small changes like this changed the arts and there fore people and communities.  Why artists in certain areas use a certain pallet of color, why paintings look so different, how different needs of society dictated what art was accepted or not.  Life is much more interrelated than we realize, it is one of the reasons I loved a show that used to be on public tv ions ago..it was called connections.  Connections showed the relationship of invention, politics, economics, and well...life.  When one mollusk died that painters used that color of purple was never used again.  How the flax crops dying in England effected art and a country.  What will todays influences be, what will change art...we have already seen art, computers and technology alter our understanding of what art is.  It will be very interesting indeed!