Stretched Painting Canvas: Linen on a Stretcher, Glue-Sized and Primed with Lead White

Venetian painters of the 16th century moved from wooden panels to canvas; their city's sail canvas was thought the best. A painting canvas is linen stretched tight on a wooden frame, sealed with glue size and primed white. The priming here is the old one: lead white ground in linseed oil. The picture: Johannes Vermeer, The Art of Painting (about 1666–68), a painter at work on a canvas on his easel.