Oil painting in the Bamiyan caves
Pintura al óleo de las cuevas de Bamiyán
- Date
- c. 650 · confidence medium
- Place
- Bamiyan, Afghanistan
- Credited to
- Buddhist painters of Bamiyan (analysis by Yoko Taniguchi and the ESRF, 2008)
- Field
- Matter & energy
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What was discovered
Analysis of micro-fragments from the Bamiyan cave murals detected drying oils (walnut and poppy) mixed with pigments, in the 7th century. They are the oldest known oil paintings, about seven centuries before Flemish painting.
Oil was detected in about 12 of some 50 caves analysed; the paintings date between the 5th and 9th centuries AD. The result was published in 2008 and its interpretation (oil as the main medium versus varnishes or additives) is still debated. It is not a direct ancestor of 15th-century European oil painting.
What it led to
- evidence of the technical sophistication of Silk Road painting
- debate on the history of oils as paint binders
- added value of the heritage after the destruction of the Buddhas in 2001