Encaustic painting is an extremely ancient method of creating images with the roots of its development dating to the earliest periods of history; the first recorded mention of the technique dates from 1 A.D and encaustic paintings exist from several centuries preceding that manuscript.

Due to the difficulty of mastering its methods, there are few artists today specializing in this approach to creating images.

Two aspects separate encaustic painting from all other forms of painting, namely the use of beeswax colored with pigments, and the application of heat, which is necessary to be able to make the wax flow on the canvas.

Although we can never be sure of the exact origins of encaustic painting techniques, it is highly likely that it developed in parallel with the rise of beekeeping within the earliest societies across the globe.

A particular aspect of encaustic painting is that it was historically the only method that could preserve the vibrancy of colors for centuries in the period before oil painting was discovered and implemented by artists everywhere.