Danish master artists prepped canvases with leftovers from brewing beer

Danish painters in the 19th century had some special ingredients up their sleeves: they used materials from brewing beer to create their artwork. This 1834 painting "The 84-Gun Danish Warship 'Dronning Marie' in the Sound" by Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg is an example. Photo: AP

Danish painters in the 19th century may have turned to an unusual source for some of their supplies: breweries.

Researchers examined paintings from the Danish Golden Age and found traces of yeast and grains. That suggests painters were turning to byproducts from local breweries to prepare canvases, they reported recently in the journal Science Advances.