Tempera (Italian:[ˈtɛmpera]) is a permanent, fast-drying painting medium consisting ofpigments mixed with a water-solublebinder medium, usually glutinous material such as eggyolk. There are several types of tempera paint, but the one containing egg yolk is calledegg tempera. Tempera paint made from the milk protein isCasein paint. If the binder is syntheticPVA, the result ispolyvinyl acetate tempera.[1] Adistemper paint consisting of pigment and binders such as cornstarch, gum arabic and other gums is calledposter paint in certain parts of the world, and it is also often confusingly referred to as "tempera paint", although the binders in this paint are different from traditional egg tempera paints and the visual effect is more likegouache.[2]
The termTempera also refers to the paintings done in any kind of these tempera mediums.
The earliest known examples of egg tempera are the prehistoric murals on theDomus de Janas chamber tombs inSardinia, dating back to 3400-2700 BCE.[4] Analysed samples of 1200 BCE also detected egg tempera in the murals of thePalace of Nestor inPylos.[5]
It is frequently claimed that egg empera painting has been found onearly Egyptiansarcophagus decorations. SomeFayum mummy portraits also seem to have been done in tempera, sometimes in combination withencaustic painting made with melted wax, the alternative painting technique in the ancient world. But recent scientific analysis cast some doubts in those affirmations.[6] It was probably also used for the murals of the 3rd centuryDura-Europos synagogue.
A related technique has been used also in ancient and early medieval paintings found in several caves and rock-cut temples of India.[7] High-quality art with the help of tempera was created inBagh Caves between the late 4th and 10th centuries and in the 7th century in Ravan Chhaya rock shelter,Odisha.[8]
Thisart technique was known from the classical world, where it appears to have taken over fromencaustic painting[citation needed] and was the main medium used forpanel painting andilluminated manuscripts in theByzantine world andMedieval andEarly Renaissance Europe. Tempera painting was the primary panel painting medium for nearly every painter in the European Medieval and Early renaissance period up to 1500. For example, most surviving panel paintings attributed toMichelangelo are executed in egg tempera, an exception being hisDoni Tondo which uses both tempera and oil paint.
Oil paint, which may have originated inAfghanistan between the 5th and 9th centuries[9] and migrated westward in the Middle Ages[10] eventually superseded tempera in popularity. Oil replaced tempera as the principal medium used for creating artwork during the 15th century inEarly Netherlandish painting in northern Europe. Around 1500, oil paint replaced tempera in Italy. In the 19th and 20th centuries, there were intermittent revivals of tempera technique in Western art, among thePre-Raphaelites,Social Realists, and others. Tempera painting continues to be used in Greece and Russia where it is the traditional medium forOrthodoxicons.
Tempera is broad term describing many types of paint, traditionally created by hand-grinding dry powderedpigments into abinding agent ormedium, such as egg yolk, milk (in the form ofcasein) or a variety of plant gums.
The most common form of classical tempera painting is "egg tempera". For this form most often only the contents of theegg yolk is used. Thewhite of the egg and the membrane of the yolk are discarded (the membrane of the yolk is dangled over a receptacle and punctured to drain off the liquid inside). The egg yolk is diluted with water and used with pigment. Some kind of remedy is always added in different proportions. One recipe uses vinegar as a preservative, but only in small quantities, as vinegar will discolour pigments such as ultramarine.[11] A few drops of vinegar will keep the solution for a week, but it is better to prepare fresh paint on a daily basis. Some egg tempera schools use different mixtures of egg yolk and water, usually the ratio of yolk to water is 1:3; other recipes offer white wine (1 part yolk, 2 parts wine).
Powdered pigment, or pigment that has been ground in distilled water, is placed onto a palette or bowl and mixed with a roughly equal volume of the binder.[12] Some pigments require slightly more binder, some require less.
When used to paint icons on church walls, liquidmyrrh is sometimes added to the mixture to give the paint a pleasing odor, particularly as worshippers may find the egg tempera somewhat pungent for quite some time after completion. The paint mixture has to be constantly adjusted to maintain a balance between a "greasy" and "watery" consistency by adjusting the amount of water and yolk. As tempera gradually dries on the palette, the artist will add some water to preserve the consistency and to balance the thickening of the yolk on contact with air. Once prepared, the paint cannot be stored. As such, tubed egg tempera tends to be Tempera Grassa, as it must contain several preservatives such as oil.[13] Egg tempera is water-resistant, but not waterproof. Different preparations use the egg white instead of the yolk or even the whole egg for a different effect. Other additives such as oil andwax emulsions can modify the medium. Egg tempera is not a flexible paint and requires stiff boards; painting oncanvas will cause cracks to form and chips of paint to fall off.
Egg tempera paint should be cured for at least 3 months, up to 6 months. The surface is susceptible to scratches during the curing process, but will become much more durable after curing. Egg tempera paintings are not normally framed behind glass, as the glass can trap moisture and lead to the growth of mold.[14]
Adding oil in no more than a 1:1 ratio with the egg yolk by volume produces a water-soluble medium with many of the color effects of oil paint, although it cannot be painted thickly as it would crack.Tempera grassa was detected in several Renaissance paintings by artists such asBotticelli.[5]
Some of the pigments used by medieval painters, such ascinnabar (contains mercury),orpiment (contains arsenic), orlead white (contains lead) are highly toxic if accidentally ingested or inhaled. Most artists today use modern synthetic pigments, which are less toxic but have similarcolor properties to the older pigments. Even so, many (if not most) modern pigments are still dangerous unless certain precautions are taken; these include keeping pigments wet in storage to avoid breathing their dust.
Tempera paint dries rapidly. It is normally applied in thin, semi-opaque or transparent layers. Tempera painting allows for great precision when used with traditional techniques that often require the application of numerous small brush strokes applied in across-hatching technique. When dry, it produces a smooth satin or slightlymatte finish. Because it cannot be applied in thick layers as oil paints can, tempera paintings rarely have the deep colorsaturation that oil paintings can achieve because it can hold less pigment (lower pigment load). In this respect, the colors of an unvarnished tempera painting resemble afresco, although the color deepens if avarnish is applied. On the other hand, tempera colors do not change over time,[15] whereas oil paints darken, yellow, and become transparent with age.[16]
Tempera adheres best to an absorbentground.[17][18] The ground traditionally used is inflexible Italiangesso, and the substrate is usually rigid as well.[19] Historically wood panels were used as the substrate, and more recently un-temperedmasonite ormedium density fiberboard (MDF) have been employed; heavy paper is also used.
Apart from the traditional process of mixing pigment with egg yolk, new methods include egg tempera sold in tubes by manufacturers such asSennelier andDaler-Rowney. These paints do contain a slight amount of oil in order to extend longevity within the container. Notable egg tempera artist and authorKoo Schadler points out that because of this addition of oil "tubed 'egg tempera' paints are actually 'tempera grassa', an emulsion of egg yolk and a drying oil (generally with other additives, such as preservatives and stabilizers). Tempera grassa has some of the working properties of both egg tempera and oil painting and is a perfectly viable medium – however it is not the same as pure, homemade egg tempera and behaves differently."[20]Marc Chagall used Sennelier egg tempera tube paints extensively.
Ken Danby (1940–2007) a Canadian realist artist, whose most well known works (such as: At the Crease, Lacing up, and Pancho) were completed using egg tempera.
Robert Clinch (b. 1957) is an Australian realist painter who, thanks to the 1993Marten Bequest Travelling Scholarship, was able to conduct extensive research into egg tempera and has since completed multiple works in the medium.[23]
In 2013, American fine artists Elena Vladimir Baranoff and Anastasia Elena Baranoff founded Egg Tempera Movement in London, United Kingdom.[24][25] Elena Vladimir Baranoff and Anastasia Elena Baranoff established Egg Tempera Movement to promote and preserve the egg tempera painting technique.[26]
Altoon Sultan,The Luminous Brush: Painting With Egg Tempera, Watson-Guptill Publications, New York 1999.
Richard J. Boyle, Richard Newman, Hilton Brown: Milk and Eggs: The American Revival of Tempera Painting, 1930–1950 Brandywine River Museum Staff, Akron Art Museum StaffISBN0295981903 (0-295-98190-3) Softcover, University of Washington Press
Lara Broecke,'Cennino Cennini'sIl Libro dell'Arte: a New English Translation and Commentary with Italian Transcription', Archetype Publications 2015.ISBN978-190-949-228-8
Daniel V. Thompson Jr.,Materials and Techniques of Medieval Painting, Dover: explanation and expansion on Cennini's works
Daniel V. Thompson Jr.The Practice of Tempera Painting: Materials and Methods, Dover Publications, Inc. 1962.
Chifan C. Alexandru, " Symbol of hand in fine arts", Artes Publication 2013, Iaşi, Romania,ISBN978-606-547-100-9
