The worlds oldest oil paintings have been found in a cave system in Afghanistan. The oil paintings date back to the 7th century.
Who does not know the still small smile of the Mona Lisa, one of the most famous oil paintings of the 1500's. Leondardo Da Vinci may have been interested to know that some of the first oil paintings could be found on cave walls in Afghanistan.
It has been theorized that oil painting originated in Asia between the fifth to ninth centuries. It would then come as no surprise that Afghanistan would be home to one of the oldest known oil paintings in the world.
The discovery was made after the Taliban tragically destroyed Buddha statues in the Afghan region of Bamiyan. Behind the Statues was a series of caves lined in pictures placed in between the fifth to ninth centuries. The pictures were of Buddha's in red robes sitting among palm trees and mythical animals.
"This is the earliest clear example of oil paintings in the world, although drying oils were already used by ancient Romans and Egyptians, but only as medicines and cosmetics," said researcher Yoko Taniguchi.
The drying oils were identified by the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) as walnut or poppyseed oils. 12 of the 50 caves found were indicated to have paintings created through the use of oil techniques.
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Afghanistan Host to World's Oldest Known Oil Painting
