“Byzantines used a lot of gold leaf. … I submit that if the Byzantines had pink fluorescent paint as a precious pigment, they would have used that also.”
Kurt Ofer, “Generate Form Like a Byzantine“
At various points in art history something has changed because of materials: the introduction of a new pigment (an ultramarine made in a lab rather than from lapis lazuli) or type of paint (oil paint vs egg tempera in Western Europe, acrylic in the 1950s) or technique (collage in the 20th century) or technology (tubes for oil paint). Today we’re spoilt for choice, yet still use the most fundamental: charcoal. I find myself wondering what the artists who painted in caves would have thought of glow-in-the-dark paint. And would they have used it only for eyes?