The History of Paint

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Colour was widely used by the ancient Egyptians and was considered to have magical and healing properties and around this time, 1500 BC, paint making as an art became quite widely established in Crete and Greece with the Egyptians passing their skills to the Romans. It was between 600 BC-AD 400 that the Greeks and Romans then introduced varnishes. For the Aztec Indians red dye was considered more valuable than gold and both the Indians and Chinese practiced Colour Healing. The earliest surviving medical text, the Yellow Emperor’s Nei Ching, records colour diagnoses.

When King Tutankhamen's tomb was opened in 1924, artefacts including models of boats, people, and furniture found inside the burial chamber had been painted with milk paint.Because the original formula for milk paint was so simple to make and use, it was for thousands of years a major form of decoration throughout the world. Over time, and in various places, different recipes, including milk protein (casein), lime, and pigments were tried, producing varying results in durability. Many of these coatings also provided weatherproofing, while others disintegrated, leaving only a permanent stain on the painted surface. The variations included adding substances such as olive oil, linseed oil, eggs, animal glue, or waxes. Over the centuries, better recipes were found that could produce a durable coating, which could last indefinitely. The colours on the walls painted at Egypt’s Temple of Dendara, even though exposed to the open air for centuries, are as vivid today as they must have been 2000 years ago.

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