Editing Tempera

{{Short description|Fast-drying painting medium}}
{{about|the painting medium|other uses}}
{{Distinguish|Tempura}}

[[File:Duccio The-Madonna-and-Child-128.jpg|thumb|''[[Crevole Madonna]]'' by [[Duccio]], tempera with [[gold ground]] on wood, 1284, [[Siena]]]]
'''Tempera''' ({{IPA|it|ˈtɛmpera|lang}}), also known as '''egg tempera''', is a permanent, fast-drying painting medium consisting of [[pigment]]s mixed with a water-soluble [[Binder (material)|binder]] medium, usually glutinous material such as egg [[yolk]]. ''Tempera'' also refers to the paintings done in this medium. Tempera paintings are very long-lasting, and examples from the first century AD still exist. Egg tempera was a primary method of painting until after 1500 when it was superseded by [[oil painting]]. A paint consisting of pigment and binder commonly used in the United States as [[poster paint]] is also often referred to as "tempera paint", although the binders in this paint are different from traditional tempera paint.

==Etymology==
The term ''tempera'' is derived from the [[Italian language|Italian]] ''dipingere a tempera'' ("paint in [[Distemper (paint)|distemper]]"), from the [[Late Latin]] ''distemperare'' ("mix thoroughly").<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wtzzDQAAQBAJ&q=tempera+distemperare&pg=PA210|title=Literature and Artistic Practice in Sixteenth-Century Italy|first=Angela|last=Cerasuolo|date=10 January 2017|publisher=BRILL|isbn=9789004335349|via=Google Books}}</ref>

==History==
[[File:Niccolò Semitecolo - Two Christians before the Judges.jpg|thumb|A [[1360s in art|1367]] tempera on wood by [[Niccolò Semitecolo]]]]
Tempera painting has been found on [[Ancient Egypt|early Egyptian]] [[sarcophagus]] decorations. Many of the [[Fayum mummy portraits]] use tempera, sometimes in combination with [[encaustic painting]] with melted wax, the alternative painting technique in the ancient world. It was also used for the murals of the 3rd century [[Dura-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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wondermondo.com/Best/As/IndMedCavePaint.htm |title=Ancient and medieval Indian cave paintings – Internet encyclopedia, Wondermondo, June 10, 2010 |publisher=Wondermondo.com |date=2010-06-04 |access-date=2012-07-29}}</ref> High-quality art with the help of tempera was created in [[Bagh Caves]] between the late 4th and 10th centuries and in the 7th century in Ravan Chhaya rock shelter, Odisha.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wondermondo.com/Countries/As/India/Orissa/RavanChhaya.htm |title=Ravan Chhaya rock shelter near Sitabinji, Wondermondo, May 23, 2010 |publisher=Wondermondo.com |date=2010-05-23 |access-date=2012-07-29}}</ref>

The [[Art techniques and materials|art technique]] was known from the classical world, where it appears to have taken over from [[encaustic painting]]{{Citation needed|date=April 2009}} and was the main medium used for [[panel painting]] and [[illuminated manuscript]]s in the [[Byzantine]] world and [[Middle Ages|Medieval]] and [[Early 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 to [[Michelangelo]] are executed in egg tempera, an exception being his ''[[Doni Tondo]]'' which uses both tempera and oil paint.

[[Oil painting|Oil paint]], which may have originated in [[Afghanistan]] between the 5th and 9th centuries<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSISL26042420080422 |title=World's oldest oil paintings in Afghanistan |publisher=Reuters.com |date=2008-04-22 |access-date=2012-07-29}}</ref> and migrated westward in the Middle Ages<ref>Theophilus mentions oil media in the 12th Century</ref> eventually superseded tempera. Oil replaced tempera as the principal medium used for creating artwork during the 15th century in [[Early 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 the [[Pre-Raphaelites]], [[social realism|Social Realists]], and others. Tempera painting continues to be used in Greece and Russia where it is the traditional medium for [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox]] [[icons]].

==Technique==
Tempera is traditionally created by hand-grinding dry powdered [[pigment]]s into a [[paint|binding agent]] or ''medium'', such as egg yolk, milk (in the form of [[casein]]) and a variety of plant gums.

===Egg tempera===
The most common form of classical tempera painting is "egg tempera". For this form most often only the contents of the [[egg yolk]] is used. The [[Egg white|white 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. A few drops of vinegar will keep the solution for a week. 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.<ref>Mayer, Ralph, 1976. ''The Artist's Handbook of Materials and Techniques'' (3rd ed.). New York: Viking Penguin Inc., p. 228.</ref> Some pigments require slightly more binder, some require less.

When used to paint icons on church walls, liquid [[myrrh]] 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 dries, the artist will add more water to preserve the consistency and to balance the thickening of the yolk on contact with air. Once prepared, the paint cannot be stored. Egg tempera is water-resistant, but not waterproof. Different preparations use the egg white or the whole egg for a different effect. Other additives such as oil and [[wax emulsion]]s can modify the medium. Egg tempera is not a flexible paint and requires stiff boards; painting on [[canvas]] 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.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Egg Tempera Misconceptions - Egg Tempera Forums |url=https://www.eggtempera.com/forum-archive/showthread.php@p=6726.html |access-date=2023-01-29 |website=www.eggtempera.com}}</ref>

===Tempera grassa===
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.

===Pigments===
Some of the pigments used by medieval painters, such as [[cinnabar]] (contains mercury), [[orpiment]] (contains arsenic), or [[lead white]] (contains lead) are highly toxic. Most artists today use modern synthetic pigments, which are less toxic but have similar [[color]] 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.

===Application===
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 require the application of numerous small brush strokes applied in a [[cross-hatching]] technique. When dry, it produces a smooth [[Gloss (material appearance)|matte]] finish. Because it cannot be applied in thick layers as oil paints can, tempera paintings rarely have the deep color [[saturation (color theory)|saturation]] 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 a [[pastel]], although the color deepens if a [[varnish]] is applied. On the other hand, tempera colors do not change over time,<ref>Mayer, Ralph, 1985. ''The Artist's Handbook of Materials and Techniques'' (4th ed.). New York: Viking Penguin Inc., p. 215</ref> whereas oil paints darken, yellow, and become transparent with age.<ref>Mayer, 1985, p. 119</ref>

===Ground===
[[File:Tarlati-polyptych-Pietro Lorenzetti Pieve di santa Maria Arezzo.jpg|thumb|[[Pietro Lorenzetti]]'s ''[[Tarlati polyptych]]'', Tempera and gold on panel, 1320]]
Tempera adheres best to an absorbent [[Ground (art)|ground]] that has a lower oil content than the tempera binder used (the traditional rule of thumb is ''"[[fat over lean]]"'', and never the other way around).<ref>Doerner, Max, 1946. ''The Materials of the Artist and Their Use in Painting''. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company. p. 230.</ref><ref>Mayer, Ralph, 1976. ''The Artist's Handbook of Materials and Techniques'' (3rd ed.). New York: Viking Penguin Inc., pp. 165, 253.</ref> The ground traditionally used is inflexible Italian [[gesso]], and the substrate is usually rigid as well.<ref>Mayer, 1976, p. 269.</ref> Historically wood panels were used as the substrate, and more recently un-tempered [[masonite]] or [[medium density fiberboard]] (MDF) have been employed; heavy paper is also used.

===Pre-made paints===
Apart from the traditional process of mixing pigment with egg yolk, new methods include egg tempera sold in tubes by manufacturers such as Sennelier and Daler-Rowney. These paints do contain a slight amount of oil to enhance durability within the container. Notable egg tempera artist and author Koo 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."<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.kooschadler.com/techniques/history-egg-tempera.pdf |title=History of Egg Tempera Painting |date=2017-07-18 |website= |last=Schadler |first=Koo}}</ref>[[Marc Chagall]] used Sennelier egg tempera tube paints extensively.

==Artists==
Although tempera has been out of favor since the Late Renaissance and [[Baroque]] eras, it has been periodically rediscovered by later artists such as [[William Blake]], the [[Nazarene movement|Nazarenes]], the [[Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood|Pre-Raphaelites]], and [[Joseph Southall]]. The 20th century saw a significant revival of tempera. European painters who worked with tempera include [[Giorgio de Chirico]], [[Otto Dix]], [[Eliot Hodgkin]], [[Pyke Koch]],<ref>{{cite web|title=Zelfportret met zwarte band (1937)|url=http://centraalmuseum.nl/ontdekken/object/?img_only=1#o:4687|website=Centraal Museum (Utrecht)|language=nl}}</ref> and [[Pietro Annigoni]], who used an emulsion of egg yolks, stand oil and varnish.

Spanish surrealist painter [[Remedios Varo]] worked extensively in egg tempera.

===Revival in 20th-century American art===

The tempera medium was used by American artists such as the [[regionalism (art)|Regionalist]]s [[Andrew Wyeth]], [[Thomas Hart Benton (painter)|Thomas Hart Benton]] and his students [[James Duard Marshall]] and [[Roger Medearis]]; [[American Figurative Expressionism|expressionists]] [[Ben Shahn]], [[Mitchell Siporin]] and [[John Langley Howard]], magic realists [[George Tooker]], [[Paul Cadmus]], [[Jared French]], [[Julia Thecla]] and Louise E. Marianetti, realist painter [[David Hanna (artist)|David Hanna]]; [[Art Students League of New York]] instructors [[Kenneth Hayes Miller]] and [[William C. Palmer]], [[social realism|Social Realists]] [[Kyra Markham]], [[Isabel Bishop]], [[Reginald Marsh (artist)|Reginald Marsh]], and [[Noel Rockmore]], [[Edward Laning]], [[Anton Refregier]], [[Jacob Lawrence]], [[Rudolph F. Zallinger]], [[Robert Vickrey]], [[Peter Hurd]], and [[science fiction]] artist [[John Schoenherr]], notable as the cover artist of ''[[Dune (novel)|Dune]]''.

===20th-century Indian art===
In the early part of the 20th century, a large number of Indian artists, notably of the [[Bengal school]] took up tempera as one of their primary media of expression. Artists such as [[Gaganendranath Tagore]], [[Asit Kumar Haldar]], [[Abanindranath Tagore]], [[Nandalal Bose]], [[Kalipada Ghoshal]] and [[Sughra Rababi]] were foremost. After the 1950s, artists such as [[Jamini Roy]] and [[Ganesh Pyne]] established tempera as a medium for the new age artists of India.

===In contemporary art===
Other practicing tempera artists include [[Philip Aziz]], [[Ernst Fuchs (artist)|Ernst Fuchs]], [[Antonio Roybal]], George Huszar, [[Donald Jackson (calligrapher)|Donald Jackson]], [[Tim Lowly]], [[Altoon Sultan]], [[Shaul Shats]], [[Sandro Chia]], [[Alex Colville]], [[Robert Vickrey]], [[Andrew Wyeth]], [[Andrew Grassie]], [[Soheila Sokhanvari]], and [[Ganesh Pyne]].

[[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 1993 [[Marten Bequest Travelling Scholarship]], was able to conduct extensive research into egg tempera and has since completed multiple works in the medium.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.diggins.com.au/artist/robert-clinch/ | title=Robert Clinch }}</ref>

In 2013, American fine artists Elena Vladimir Baranoff and Anastasia Elena Baranoff founded Egg Tempera Movement in London, United Kingdom.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://realismtoday.com/egg-tempera-mixing-past-and-future/ | title=Egg Tempera : Mixing Past And Future | website=Realism Today| date=September 2020 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://fineartconnoisseur.com/2017/08/portrait-of-the-week-elena-vladimir-baranoff-richard-chartres-lord-bishop-of-london/ | title=Portrait Of The Week : Elena Vladimir Baranoff | website=Fine Art Connoisseur| date=10 August 2017 }}</ref> Elena Vladimir Baranoff and Anastasia Elena Baranoff established Egg Tempera Movement to promote and preserve the egg tempera painting technique.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.npg.org.uk/whatson/exhibitions/2016/bp-portrait-award-2016/#gallery124 | title=National Portrait Gallery, London | website=npg.org.uk}}</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Spanish - Altar Frontal with Christ in Majesty and the Life of Saint Martin - Walters 371188.jpg|Spanish, ''Altar Frontal with Christ in Majesty and the Life of Saint Martin'', 1250, [[The Walters Art Museum]]
File:Madonna71.jpg|[[Guido da Siena]], ''Madonna'', Church of San Regolo, Siena, tempera and gold on panel, 1285–1295
File:Duccio.The-Madonna-and-Child-with-Saints-149.jpg|[[Duccio]], [[Madonna and Child with saints polyptych (Duccio)|''Madonna and Child with saints'' polyptych]], tempera and gold on wood, 1311–1318
File:Bernardo Daddi - Christ Enthroned with Saints Sebastian, Leo, Alexander, Peregrine, Philip, Rufinianus, Justa, Concordius, and Decentius.jpg|[[Bernardo Daddi]], ''Christ Enthroned with Saints Sebastian, Leo, Alexander, Peregrine, Philip, Rufianiaus, Justa, Concordius and Decentius'', 14th century
File:Virgin and child with four saints--detail--cortona 1435.jpg|[[Sassetta]], detail of ''Virgin and Child with Four Saints'', tempera on wood, 1435
Carlo crivelli, madonna di macerata, 1470-73 ca. 01.jpg|[[Carlo Crivelli]], [[Madonna with Child (Crivelli)|Madonna with Child]], tempera on wood, [[Transfer of panel paintings|transferred to canvas]], 1470
File:Sandro Botticelli - La nascita di Venere - Google Art Project - edited.jpg|[[Sandro Botticelli]], ''[[The Birth of Venus (Botticelli)|The Birth of Venus]]'', tempera on canvas, {{Circa|1486}}
File:Lorenzo d'Alessandro da San Severino - The Crucifixion; Saint Michael - Walters 37496.jpg|[[Lorenzo d'Alessandro]], ''The Crucifixion; Saint Michael'', {{Circa|1480–1490}}, [[The Walters Art Museum]]
File:Sandro botticelli e bottega, madonna col bambino e san giovannino in un tondo, 1490-1500 ca. 01.JPG|[[Sandro Botticelli]], tempera on panel, 1490–1500
File:Antonio da Fabriano II - Saint Jerome in His Study - Walters 37439.jpg|[[Antonio da Fabriano]], ''Saint Jerome in His Study'', 1451, [[The Walters Art Museum]]
File:Marianne Stokes Melisande.jpg|[[Marianne Stokes]], ''[[Melisande (Stokes)|Melisande]]'', tempera on canvas, 1895–1898
</gallery>

== See also ==
{{Commons}}
* [[Glue-size]]
* [[Gold ground]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
*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 Staff {{ISBN|0295981903}} (0-295-98190-3) Softcover, University of Washington Press
*Lara Broecke,'Cennino Cennini's ''Il Libro dell'Arte'': a New English Translation and Commentary with Italian Transcription', Archetype Publications 2015. {{ISBN|978-190-949-228-8}}
*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, {{ISBN|978-606-547-100-9}}

==External links==
*[http://www.watercolorpainting.com/eggtempera.htm Egg Tempera Painting]
*[http://www.eggtempera.com/ The Society of Tempera Painters]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20081118194631/https://danielsmith.com/Learn/Articles/Making-Egg-Tempera.asp/ Making Egg Tempera]
*[http://www.owlpen.com/manor/painted-cloths Tempera Paintings on Cloth in England]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20081020064321/http://www.eggtempera.org/ Egg Tempera Resources]
*[http://www.temperaworkshop.com/technique/technique1.htm Step-by-step Egg Tempera Technique]

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