As we continue to search high and wide for news I have found this very interesting article on CNN which refers to claims of the finding of the earliest oil paintings...

"Scientists have found what they described this week as the earliest oil paintings ever discovered in Kabul, Afghanistan CNN have reported. Afghan murals show oil painting was going on for centuries earlier in Asia than Europe. Murals found on cave walls in Afghanistan prove that painting with oil had been going on in Asia for centuries before artists used the technique in Europe, scientists said this week. Until now, art historians believed that oil painting started in Europe in the 15th century. Scientists found the murals in a network of caves where monks lived and prayed in the Afghan region of Bamiyan, according to a statement on the Web site of the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, where the ancient paintings were analyzed..." Continue this fascinating read at CNN.