About Our Renaissance Canvas Art

Long before stretched canvas became the familiar artist’s surface, painters of the late Middle Ages and Renaissance commonly worked on wooden panels. Wood provided a rigid, durable support and was readily available, while canvas became increasingly popular because it was lighter and easier to transport. Traditional panels were usually prepared with a smooth layer of gesso that concealed the grain. Our panels take a different approach: tung oil enriches the natural tones and figure of the wood, allowing the support to remain a visible part of the finished composition.

These wood canvases began as a custom order for an artist. The color seemed to come alive against the warmth and variation of the grain, giving the paintings a depth that a uniform white ground cannot reproduce. The examples shown here were created with India ink and gouache. We now offer both completed paintings and blank, tung-oil-prepared Renaissance canvases for artists working in oil, acrylic, gouache, India ink, and other media.