Interior Painting through History

Throughout the ages, humans have wanted the interior of their homes to be beautiful. Dating clear back to the cave man days over 40,000 years ago, history has shown, through artifact and drawings on the interior walls of caves, that men (and women) liked to decorate their dwellings. Of course, the paints would have used all-natural ingredients like berries, clay and plant materials. Most likely they would have bound it all together using fatty oils. The original paint brushes were believed to have been made from stone and animal hair bound together with straps. The walls were mainly decorated with pictures of animals that were hunted or part of their everyday life. There were at rare times, human representations of handprints and other items.

As you progress forward in history you can see influences of the styles of the regions, not only in what was painted but also the different color schemes in use. There were many regions where darker images were more often portrayed. As far back as 32,000 years ago paintings were drawn on interior cave walls in France and other countries that showed the history of earlier times, displaying horses, lions, buffalo, bison, and mankind.

As you travel through time, the type of artwork in homes changed from drawings on the interior walls to walls being painted one solid color and then paintings added to the walls, giving much more flexibility for enhancing the home’s beauty. There was also the additional choice of wall paper which could add depth as well as create unique looks. Most of the homes were painted or papered by professional painters, which is still a practice today.

If you would like to beautify your home, please contact us at University Painters for ideas or a free quote. We will gladly share our knowledge with you.