Oil Painting on Copper, a brief history

I just finished a pair of miniature oil paintings on copper.

We usually associate oil paintings with being done on linen canvas or wood panel, and at first I also didn't believe that you could paint directly on copper or any other metal surfaces. As a jeweler, I have worked with base metals (copper, brass, bronze) and precious metals (silver and gold) and have a pretty good idea as to how these metals react.

Because I didn't initially believe that you could oil paint on copper, I did my initial paintings on an ultrathin plywood. The process was extremely tedious and took weeks of preparation before I could even begin oil painting.

My initial goal with oil painting was to learn from the Old Masters, and what cropped up here and there was their use of copperplate as canvas.

Above is The Archduke Leopold Wilhelm in his Painting Gallery in Brussels by David Teniers the Younger. What's incredible to me about this painting is not just the subject matter and the amount of details, but the size. This is a solid copper sheet measuring 41" x 51".

There isn't much information as to why they decided on copper as canvas. But the history of it is actually very fascinating.

• The technique of oil on copper is most associated with Flemish/Northern European paintings, although it did spread to other parts of Europe.

• The oil paints could be painted directly on to the copper surface making for a much smoother surface to paint on. This allowed for finer details.

• The painters not only loved this unusual material, they also favored that it gave the paints a 'jewel-like' finish.

• With humidity, wood and linen can easily damage whereas copper was/is much more durable if prepared properly.

• Since there was more printing happening on copperplates at the time, it became an accessible material to use for oil painters. Some painters also did engraving so they had a better understanding of how the material worked.

• There was a tradition of painting on gold and silver leaf from the early illuminated manuscripts so the practice of oil on copper wasn't necessarily a massive innovation. There was already precedence of painting on a metallic surface from this other medium and previous centuries.

• The practice died out by the late 1700s.

Let's look at some other examples:

The Four Parts of the World by Jan Van Kessel the Elder

Study of

An Angel Appearing to the Wife of Manoah by Carlo Saraceni

Juana Galarza by Francisco de Goya

Thanks so much for reading.

Take care for now,

Caitlin

Here are a few articles I read to learn more about the history and process of oil painting on copper:

• "Copper as Canvas" Demonstrates Artistic Side of the Valuable Metal

• Review of "Copper as Canvas: Two Centuries of Masterpiece Paintings on Copper, 1575-1775"

• Painting on Copper: Techniques and History

• How to Prepare a Copper Panel for Oil Painting