Only the richest people could afford to paint the walls of buildings until the 19th century. Paint recipes were carefully guarded by artisans, whereas preparation of paints was difficult and demanding. Only natural ingredients, such as eggs, water and earth, were found in the historic paints. Nevertheless, there were often harmful substances such as lead or mercury that negatively affected the health of both painters and residents of the painted interior. It was not until the second half of the 19th century that synthetic pigments were discovered – they are much cheaper to produce and safer to use. Thanks to them everyone can paint the house in any color.
