I’m not asking about painting, rather, I’m asking about the painting–the kind of object that has imagery painted on it and is meant to be portable, able to be displayed in different places at different times.
How long have those been around?
-FrL-
Portable art, engravings on bone and antler date back to 30 000+ years ago. Painted artwork is probably at least as old, but none has survived (portable art, that is.)
The question’s more complicated than you make it. There have been paintings of a smallish scale on panels for along time, but usually meant for a place and purpose (I’m thinking, like, the encaustic burial portraits from Fayoum). There was painting on ceramic long before that. . . and sculpture was painted. . . and a lot of fresco painting, and manuscripts (do those count? paintings on papyrus?), but of the sort that you mean, it must be later. Maybe Byzantine-era portable icons, and then later western European devotional paintings. If you’re asking about paintings on canvas specifically, about 1500.