World's Oldest Oil Paintings

Buddhist murals from Afghanistan's famed Bamian caves are the world's oldest known oil paintings, according to a new chemical analysis. (See photos of the paintings and the cliffs that housed them).

The finds, dated to around the 7th century CE, predate the origins of similar sophisticated painting techniques in medieval Europe and the Mediterranean by more than a hundred years.

The discovery may also provide insights into cultural exchange along the Silk Road connecting east and west Asia during that time period.

Using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry, scientists found that samples from twelve caves and the two giant Buddhas destroyed by the Taliban contained oil- and resin-based paints - likely the earliest known use for either substance for painting.

The analysis, done by Yoko Taniguchi of Japan, showed the murals were painted using a structured, multilayered technique reminiscent of early European methods.

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The Door To Enlightenment

Gates of Paradise, Florence Baptistry by Lorenzo Ghiberti

The Florence Baptistry is a religious building in Florence, Italy, and is renowned for its three sets of artistically important bronze doors with relief sculptures by Lorenzo Ghiberti. These doors were dubbed by Michelangelo, "the Gates of Paradise," because of their beauty. The Italian poet, Dante Alighieri and many famed artists and leaders of the Renaissance, including members of the Medici family, were baptized there.

In 1401, a competition was announced by the Wool Merchants' Guild to design the baptistry's north doors. The existing north doors had been built as an offering to spare Florence from the scourge of the Black Plague which ravaged the city in 1348. Seven sculptors competed, including Lorenzo Ghiberti, Filippo Brunelleschi, and Donatello, with 21 year-old Ghiberti winning the commission. At the time of judging, only Ghiberti and Brunelleschi were finalists, and when the judges could not decide, they were assigned to work together on the doors. Brunelleschi's pride forced him to abandon Ghiberti who then worked on the doors alone.

It took the young sculptor 21 years to complete the doors. The gilded bronze doors consist of twenty-eight panels, with twenty depicting a biblical scene from the Old Testament. The lower eight panels show the four evangelists and Church Fathers, Saint Ambrose, Saint Jerome, Saint Gregory, and Saint Augustine. The doors have been described as being the most important event in the history of Florentine art in the first quarter of the 15th century.

Michelangelo referred to these doors as "undeniably perfect in every way and must rank as the finest masterpiece every created."

And thus was born the Renaissance.

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The Root Of The Matter

The Arnolfini Marriage by van Eyck, 1434

Rubia is a genus of the madder family, Rubiaceae, which contains about 60 species of perennial climbing herbs native to Africa, temperate Asia, and America. The genus and its best known species are also known as Madder. Madder has been cultivated as a dyestuff since antiquity in central Asia and Egypt where it was grown as early as 1500 BCE. Cloth dyed with madder root pigment was found in the tomb of the Pharaoh Tutankhamun and in the ruins of Pompeii and ancient Corinth.

In 1826, the French chemist, Pierre-Jean Robiquet, found that madder root contained two colorants, the red alizarin and the more rapidly fading purpurin, The alizarin component became the first natural dye to be synthetically duplicated by German scientists. Rose madder is the crushed root of the Common Madder plant. The ancient Egyptians used rose madder to create pinkish rose-colored textile dyes.

Rose madder saw limited use as an oil paint during the Renaissance because it was considered a weak color. In the 19th century, chemists were able to manufacture a pigment that made rose madder a stronger and more durable oil paint. However, during the latter part of the 19th century, alizarin crimson was created and was considered at the time to be a superior replacement to rose madder. It is the synthetic form of rose madder and was soon discovered by artists to be a perfect color on the palette, making beautiful violets when mixed with blue, and perfect blacks and neutrals when mixed with a dark green like viridian or pthalo green.

All from a humble plant root.

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American Icon

Valley of the Yosemite, 1864 by Albert Bierstadt

Of all American painters of the West, my favorite is Albert Bierstadt (1830-1902) and he wasn't American by birth. He is best known for his spectacular landscapes of the unsettled West. He was born in Germany and was two years old when his family emigrated to our shores and settled in New Bedford, Massachussets.

Beginning in 1859, he made three trips west, each time making oil sketches on paper. Returning to his studio he used these sketches and studies to paint huge detailed panoramic views (some 6 feet by 10 feet) of Western scenery. His paintings emphasized the spectacular landscape, sometimes exaggerating what he had seen and changing a few details to make the scene more interesting.

Though his paintings commanded huge sums, Bierstadt was not held in particularly high esteem by the critics of his day. His use of uncommonly large canvases was thought to be an egotistical indulgence as his paintings would invariably dwarf those of his contemporaries when displayed together. His ego, they complained, was evident in the size of his paintings.

Bierstadt realized that in order to keep the rich and famous buying his paintings he would have to emulate their opulent lifestyle so he lived extravagantly, spending fortunes on travel, entertaining, and a mansion on the Hudson River.

Sadly, his work eventually fell out of favor, the mansion burned to the ground, and he died in New York City flat broke.

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