The unique layering technique afforded by oil paint gives the artist greater opportunities. Oil paint has been used on stone and glass since the eighth century. During the early 15th century, Van Eyck and other Northern painters perfect the technique of oil on panel painting. For his style he used glimmering jewels, reflective metals, lush satins and velvets, and even human flesh were each rendered with their own distinctive qualities with such a high degree of naturalism it seemed he had conjured a new artistic medium.
Explanation:
Jan van Eyck is known as an innovator of veristic realism, not only for his meticulous portraiture but also for his stunning panoramic landscapes that appear to recede far into the distance. Predating the naturalistic landscapes of Leonardo da Vinci by over 50 years, paintings such as Saint Francis of Assisi Receiving the Stigmata demonstrate the Eyckian use of atmospheric perspective, and anticipate the later genre of the Baroque Dutch landscape tradition. Jan van Eyck positioned this scene in the rocky mountains of the legend, yet also included a miniature bustling Netherlandish city in the distance using his microscopic painting technique, a common trait of early Netherlandish book illumination and religious paintings. The style of the city's rendering lends credence to the theory of the artist's early career as a miniaturist, as the anonymous "Hand G" of the Turin-Milan hours.
