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1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteOld paintings crack because their layered materials shrink, stiffen and move differently over time. The resulting network, called craquelure, can offer clues about a painting’s construction and history—but cracks alone do not prove that it is deteriorating or unstable.
What is craquelure?
Craquelure is a network of cracks in one or more surface layers of a painting. The National Gallery describes it as a pattern that develops as paint layers age and shrink; cracks may also extend into varnish. The term “crackle” is related. The Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI) uses “crazing” more narrowly for a fine network of cracks in varnish that reduces its transparency.
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A crack may affect varnish, paint, ground, or several layers. CCI defines cracks as surface or deeper checks in one or more of these layers. A pattern’s appearance is therefore only part of the story: the layer involved, the crack’s shape and location, and whether the paint remains firmly attached all matter.
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Why do old paintings crack?
Different layers respond differently
A painting is a layered structure: canvas or wood support, sizing, ground, paint and often varnish. These materials do not all respond alike to moisture, temperature or age. As paint films and priming become less flexible and more brittle, they may be less able to accommodate movement. A fabric support can expand or contract as it exchanges moisture with the surrounding air, transferring strain into the layers above it. Shrinkage and movement can combine to create connected cracks. The Smithsonian Museum Conservation Institute explains how material changes can alter a painting’s image; CCI discusses the structure and care of paintings in its paintings guidance.
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Cracks can form during drying or later ageing
Not every crack has the same origin. “Drying cracks” form as paint dries and are often wide enough to expose a lower layer. CCI says these are usually stable and do not spread. Other cracks can develop later as materials age or experience environmental and mechanical stress. Researchers studying canvas paintings describe stress transferring from a substrate into an uncracked layer, or into the material between existing neighboring cracks. The 2024 canvas-pattern study distinguishes drying cracks from ageing cracks and examines how patterns form.
Humidity changes can add stress
Relative humidity (RH) affects materials in a painting differently. CCI guidance says low RH can make paint and ground layers more brittle, while RH fluctuations can create stress. It identifies greater crack risk below 35% RH and with larger fluctuations; this is conservation guidance, not a universal threshold for every painting or a guarantee that a particular RH will cause cracking.
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A 2016 experiment on gesso used RH cycles to study shrinkage in panel-painting ground. The tested gesso layers were 0.5–1 mm thick, and first fractures appeared after a limited number of cycles across the reported test range—from a few to 100 cycles. The researchers linked progressive shrinkage to cycles that reached high RH levels and shifted gesso between brittle and ductile behavior. These are findings for the experimental materials and conditions, not a clock for predicting when any painting will crack. The study record and paper give the experimental details.
What can a crack pattern tell you?
Crack geometry can help conservators understand how a painting is built and how its materials may have responded to stress. A 2024 study of panel paintings reports that, in its model and conditions, spacing in fully developed crack systems remains sensitive to paint or gesso layer thickness. Pattern geometry can therefore offer information about material layers—but it is not, by itself, a way to date or authenticate a painting. The panel-painting study describes that relationship.
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When examining a pattern, useful questions include:
- Which layer appears affected: varnish, paint, ground, or more than one?
- Could the pattern be associated with drying, later ageing or environmental stress, or mechanical force?
- Where are the cracks, and what is their shape and spacing?
- Are the edges flat and firmly attached, or are they cupped or lifting?
- Is paint flaking or already missing?
A photograph may show surface appearance, but it cannot reliably establish which layers are cracked, why the pattern formed, or whether it is active. Those questions require assessment of the object, not a visual guess from an image.
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Do cracks mean an old painting is damaged?
Not necessarily. CCI notes that some cracking in paint and ground is inevitable and does not by itself mean a painting is unstable. Some wide drying cracks are stable. A visible network is therefore not automatically an emergency or proof of ongoing paint loss.
Concern rises when cracks are accompanied by paint edges that lift or curl upward, active flaking, or areas of paint loss. These signs indicate a greater risk that paint could detach. CCI’s note on painting deterioration explains why cracking must be considered alongside the condition of the paint surface.
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What should an owner do?
Observe conditions without treating the painting
If you care for a collection, a relative-humidity monitor or digital hygrometer can help you observe room or storage RH. It measures conditions; it does not control humidity or diagnose a painting. CCI’s guidance treats humidity and its fluctuations as factors in material stress, but a monitor reading alone cannot establish that a particular crack is active.
Get a condition assessment when paint is lifting or shedding
For a valuable or historic painting, or one with visibly lifting, flaking or shedding paint, seek an assessment from a qualified paintings conservator. Avoid trying to press down, glue or otherwise treat loose paint yourself: a visible crack pattern does not identify a safe treatment, and intervention depends on the painting’s condition and materials.
Quick Recap
Further reading
- National Gallery glossary: craquelure
- Canadian Conservation Institute glossary for condition reporting on paintings
- Canadian Conservation Institute guidance on paintings
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