What does ';oil on linen'; mean? In painting?

Is it the same as painting on canvas?What does ';oil on linen'; mean? In painting?
';Oil on linen'; means the painting was made with oil paints on linen fabric. It's just being more specific than saying oil on canvas which is fabric which may be any combination of cotton, linen and even polyester (BOO! HISS! You definitely do NOT want to paint anything you care about on a poly blend!).


You will also see paintings described as oil on carton, oil on paper, oil on plank or wood.What does ';oil on linen'; mean? In painting?
basically the same....linen is made from the flax fibers, standard duck is from cotton. The major differences are two : 1 linen is very much more expensive than duck and probably has a longer life. 2 - cotton duck is much less expensive, tends to expand and contract less wildly than linen. Linen can go from drum tight to almost totally limp with temp and humidity changes. Cotton is slower to flex and does not flex quite so extremely. The ground, gesso, prevents both from rotting due to the normal acidfication of oils paints so the life span of either is well into the 10's or 100's of years with normal care and support. I prefer cotton.
Just the material used. ';Most'; canvases are made of cotton. Linen is really good for portraiture because of the smoothness and durability.