The cotton is woven using a plain weave, which increases its strength and artists can select canvas based on how tightly the cotton is woven. Keeping the price of canvas economical, cotton also stretches, meaning the artwork is less prone to cracking and damage. While hemp and linen were classically used to make canvas-and can still be found today-most industrial canvases are created using cotton. In fact, Diego Velázquez's iconic painting Las Meninas is dominated by a large canvas on the left-hand side of the painting, proving that the canvas was fitting even for royalty. Soon, the Spanish began to take up canvas art, following the Italian example. These factors, amongst many others, led to the continued diffusion of canvas. They are also less prone to the warping and cracking that can occur with wood panels. One important fact of the material that holds true today is that canvas allows for larger formats with easy portability, as they are lightweight and can be rolled. There are several other advantages of canvas that made them slowly replace wood panels. They also had a large, cheap supply readily available-given that the material was also used to make sails and the Venetians were known for their naval fleet. Venetian painters were especially keen on utilizing canvas because it was easier for them to use in a humid environment than frescos (which dried poorly in the lagoon) or wood panels (which absorbed moisture and warped). Historically made from tightly woven hemp-the word canvas comes from the Latin cannabis-it came into common usage in the 16th century during the Italian Renaissance.
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