Oil technique

The oil technique is one of the very old, but there is no precise information on when it found wider use.
The first mention of this technique dates back to the 10th century.
In the Middle Ages, oil technique on pure oil was known, but it was not popular and used only in decorative painting or as glazes in tempera.
Oil did not realize the problems of the painting technique of the time, which was based on a water binder that had the most ancient traditions.
The oil they used was long drying and gave a different character to the painting. A character that painters brought up in the tradition of the glue or tempera technique were not used to.
It was not until the 15th century that Jan van Eyck developed oil in a way that brought it closer to the water-based technique.
This development consisted of adding volatile oils to the oil to dilute it and introducing siccatives (lead gley) to speed up drying.
However, the painting of van Eyck and his circle was marked by the stigma of a technique based on water-based binders, so strong was the power of centuries-old tradition. It is only much later, with the Italian painters, that the oil technique becomes a stand-alone technique, devoid of the old trappings.
With the reign of the oil technique, a new era in painting begins. The oil binder contributed the most of all binders to the development of painting.
In the 18th century, along with the decline of art comes the decline of painting technique.
The good old methods of painting go into oblivion, but the oil technique still stands at the forefront and is used even in monumental painting.
In the 19th century, the bad sides of the oil technique became known, especially in wall painting.
In monumental painting, a return to fresco is beginning, and attempts at new wall techniques (such as stereochrome based on water glass) are being made.
In easel painting, efforts move toward new methods. Modern emulsion tempera is beginning to be used.
Modern painting faced a dilemma: to preserve the oil technique with its advantages and disadvantages, or to search for a new technique more suitable to the current way of painting.