EGG TEMPERA MISCONCEPTIONS

By Koo Schadler
"Egg tempera is a simple, cheap, easy-to-use technique that produced gorgeous effects...Yet nobody seems to know it."
Robert Vickrey (1926-2011)

There are many misconceptions regarding egg tempera, and reasons for their existence and persistence. A
superficial understanding of tempera limits its potential. This handout hopes to dispel some of the myths.
THE REASONS FOR MISCONCEPTIONS
Reason #1: The Influence of the Renaissance
Egg tempera reached its peak of popularity and achievement in the early Renaissance (approximately 1400-
1450) in Italy, and is notably associated with that time and place. Most Italian, early Renaissance paintings
present a less naturalistic, more idealized rendering of the world: minimal light and shadow effects; more
high-key (light) values; purer, less dirtied color; cooler color temperatures; less fully three-dimensional forms.
For the most part these visual choices are not inevitable to egg tempera. Instead they reflect the less realistic,
more spiritually oriented medieval perspective still present in early 1400s Italy (consequently changed by the
Renaissance). Because most of these paintings were done in egg tempera, people presume the medium (rather
than the culture and its thinking) accounts for this aesthetic.
Misconceptions also arise from egg tempera’s association with Italian Renaissance working methods. Masters
and guilds taught a successful but prescribed way of developing a painting. Its not the only way to work in
tempera, but often is presented as such.
Reason #2: Egg Tempera’s Disappearance
Renaissance artists aspired to increasing realism in images. Oil painting has advantages (described in
Misconception #7) over tempera in depicting the material world and, by the late 1400s, oil became the
predominate medium of the Renaissance. Egg tempera slipped into obscurity, and from this vacuum
misconceptions emerged.

Reason #3: The Icon Painting Tradition

Following the rise of oil paint, the only artists who continued to work in tempera were iconographers. They
developed a successful but restricted working method in which individual creativity and an understanding of
the medium’s possibilities were (and still are) generally not encouraged. Icon paintings are beautiful but
represent a narrow slice of egg tempera’s capabilities, yet often are seen as the full extent of tempera’s range.
Reason #4: Egg Tempera’s Current Lack of Usage
Very few contemporary painters work full time in egg tempera, so there are not many experienced voices to
counter popular misconceptions repeated by aspiring or inexperienced tempera painters.
Reason #5: Commercially Produced Paints
For centuries artists made paint from scratch, which gave them an intimate understanding of the properties of
pigments and paint. With the rise of mass produced art supplies, many contemporary artists are materially
uninformed, and misinformation arises from this lack of knowledge.
Reason # 6: Lack of Study and Research1
Pure egg tempera paint cannot be commercially produced - it would putrefy if put a tube. With no market
for the medium, the paint industry has no incentive to do research on egg tempera. There are some
museums and conservators who have studied tempera - but, compared to oil, it is less studied and not nearly
as well understood.

1 There are notable exceptions. A few examples include: essays by Turnbull, Massing, Phenix and Kempski in “Mixing and Matching,
Approaches to Retouching Paintings”, Archetype Publications 2010; the work of Dr. Joyce Stoner, Wyeth family conservator; the
conference “Tempera Painting Between 1800 and 1950”, March 2018, at the Doerner Institute in Munich; and George O’Hanlon’s
(owner of Natural Pigments) development of products for tempera painters, including a synthetic polymer ground for tempera. Still,
research into egg tempera is minimal compared to other mediums.
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EGG TEMPERA MISCONCEPTIONS
Misconceptions are in bold, followed by what I believe is a more accurate understanding of the medium. I’ve
simplified responses in an attempt at brevity. For more information, refer to my book “Egg Tempera Painting”.
HISTORY
1. The early Egyptians used egg tempera.
The earliest known egg temperas were painted by Greco-Roman artists living in Egypt during the first
centuries Ad - technically the late Roman period, not ancient Egypt.2 Egyptian artists “tempered” pigments
with various water-based binders: gum Arabic, animal glue, and casein. Museums refer to these paints
generically as temperas, which makes it difficult to know what binder was used. Although it is tempting to
presume early Egyptians worked in egg tempera there is not yet, as far as I know, definitive proof.
2. Egg tempera was the primary medium of the Renaissance.
Along with fresco, egg tempera was the principal painting medium of the Renaissance, but for only a short
time. Tempera predominated in the medieval era and into the first few decades of the 1400s in Italy. In
northern Europe, however, oil painting, which was used sporadically throughout the middle ages, was a
thoroughly mastered medium by the early 1400s (as exemplified by Campin, Van der Weyden and Van Eyck).
The northern oil technique and aesthetics soon traveled south and by the 1440s many Renaissance painters
were transitioning to oil. By the 16th century and high Renaissance egg tempera was nearly obsolete.
AESTHETICS
3. Egg tempera paintings are high-key.
A high-key painting is one in which middle to light values predominate. Many early Renaissance paintings are
high-key, but this has more to do with medieval aesthetics than egg tempera. If one uses a predominance of
middle to dark value pigments the resulting painting (regardless of medium) will be low-key, not high.
Three other factors contribute to the notion that temperas are inevitably high-key. 1. Unvarnished tempera
paintings do not darken with age, as do oils and their varnishes – so the light values in a tempera painting stay
lighter than their equivalents in oil. 2. The darks in an unvarnished tempera, while qualifying as low-key, are
not quite as deep in value as the same darks in oil (see Misconception #4, below). 3. Because tempera is
applied in very thin layers, it has less covering power and opacity than oil, and to address this some tempera
painters add white to every color, which results in a high-key. Despite these factors it is possible to paint in
tempera with primarily mid to dark values and thereby create a low-key tempera painting.
4. It is not possible to get deep blacks in egg tempera.
Given the thinness of the medium and the reflective, white gesso ground on which it sits, it takes several
layers of paint to build up a rich dark in tempera – but it can be done, and without much difficulty (especially
atop an ink under drawing). Dark values in tempera appear less saturated and deep than in oil due to the
“refractive index value” (RIV) and “pigment volume concentrate” (PVC) of each medium. Still, an egg
tempera “black” qualifies as a black; and if you varnish an egg tempera painting, the darks become as deep
and saturated as in oil.

5. The color in tempera paintings is purer, more “jewel-like” than in other mediums.
Due to tempera’s high PVC, colors are “brighter” (have a higher value and chroma) than, for example, in oil
paint.3 However this doesn’t necessarily translate into invariably bright or pure colored painting. The
pigments in tempera are the same as in other mediums, and an artist can opt for a low chroma palette (as did
Andrew Wyeth [1917-2009], who used mostly earth pigments). An artist also can dull down or dirty colors by

2I can’t say for sure what is the earliest know egg tempera painting, as not all ancient paintings have been properly analyzed for
medium, or are known or accessible to the public. The two earliest examples I found are: (1) the Severan Tondo, Staatliche Museum,
Berlin, dated to the 2nd C. Ad, listed as egg tempera on the museum website, and (2) a 4th C. Ad mummy portrait in the Petrie
Museum, London, reliably identified as egg tempera through scientific analysis.
3 See the excellent article “Pigment Volume Concentration and its Role in Color”, by Sarah Sands, for an explanation of why this is so.
It includes images that show how a single color (ultramarine blue) changes it’s value, chroma and opacity depending on what binder.
https://www.justpaint.org/pigment-volume-concentration-and-its-role-in-color/
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intermixing. The notion that tempera paintings are inevitably more colorful comes from their association
with early Renaissance painting, in which color is less naturalistic, less affected by light and shadow, and thus
higher in chroma. “Jewel-like” color is an aesthetic choice rather than inherent to the medium.
6. Egg tempera has a cooler color temperature than oil.
This is another example of an aesthetic left over from early Renaissance art, which often favored a cooler,
more “ethereal”, less warm and earthy overall color temperature. It is true that an unvarnished tempera
painting does not yellow with age, and thus better maintains cool color temperatures over time. Equally true,
oil paint and varnishes yellow to some degree and hence their color temperature may warm with age. Still, it’s
possible to paint predominately “warm” paintings in tempera, as well as “cool” paintings in oil.
7. You can’t convincingly model three-dimensional form in egg tempera.
Three-dimensional form is conveyed through light and shadow effects. The more extreme the light to
shadow transition (the brighter the lights, the deeper the darks) the more volumetric forms appear. These
effects are possible in egg tempera. However, they are probably easier to do in oil. Deep shadows appear
darker in oil than tempera (see Misconception #4). Oil paints can be applied impasto, which creates intense
highlights (versus tempera, which must be applied thinly). It’s easier to transition from one value to another
in oil because paint can be physically blended (whereas tempera brushstrokes can’t be reworked, and optical
blending occurs through the accumulation of layers). All of this does not mean tempera is incapable of three-
dimensional form; only that form can be rendered more readily, and a bit more dramatically, in oil.
"I've always been interested in Cennini talking about that you can't go after light effects, and I said what a stupid remark".
Andrew Wyeth (1917-2009)

8. You can’t paint chiaroscuro in egg tempera.

It’s probably easier to paint chiaroscuro (dramatic light and shadow) effects in oil - but, as explained in
Misconception #7, it’s possible to do in egg tempera too.
9. Egg tempera is a luminous medium (the most luminous medium).
Egg tempera can be a luminous medium if the means by which luminosity is achieved are addressed: create
light to shadow transitions, contrast values, apply glazes, work with inherently luminous colors. Painting on a
reflective, white ground also contributes to a luminous effect. By using these same means, other mediums
appear luminous too (i.e. Rembrandt’s oil paintings). Neglect these considerations - in egg tempera or any
medium – and a painting won’t appear luminous.
In other words, luminosity is a result more of visual considerations and working methods rather than the
exclusive property of one medium. Due to common working methods in tempera, the medium has a
tendency to appear luminous – but it’s not a given. (For more, refer to my handout, “Luminosity”.)
10. Oil paints are better, more versatile than egg tempera.
Oil paints do some things more easily and/or better than egg tempera (see Misconceptions #4, 7 & 8). There
are other things egg tempera does especially well: precise lines, multiple and quick drying paint layers (such as
glazes and scumbles, which contribute to luminosity); faux and textural effects (wood, stone); linear patterns.

Many things explain the contemporary preference for oil: A modern interest in greater realism and three-
dimensional form (both of which egg tempera can achieve but oil does more readily); more access to oil
painting supplies, teaching and information; the immediacy of working in oils (comes from a tube versus
made from scratch). Oil is a wonderful medium but not inherently better than egg tempera.
MATERIALS & WORKING METHODS
11. Egg Tempera is a more toxic medium.
The binder in egg tempera is yolk - a non-toxic, food grade substance. Tempera’s diluent is water, also
harmless (unlike oil solvents, which contain volatile organic compounds [VOCs], all toxic to varying degrees).
The pigments used in egg tempera are identical to those in other paints – i.e. cadmium orange is the same
whether in oil, acrylic, watercolor, or tempera. Pigments range from non-toxic to poisonous and are taken
into the body in three ways: absorption through the skin, ingestion via the mouth, or inhalation. The latter is

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applicable only to powdered pigments, so the idea that egg tempera is more toxic likely comes from the fact
that tempera artists work with powdered pigments.
Too much dust of any sort is a lung irritant, and inhalation creates an avenue for taking in toxicity, so tempera
artists should work carefully with pigments in powder form. I convert powdered pigments to pastes (wearing
a respirator). Once in paste form, they are no more or less harmful than other paint.
12. Egg tempera is a less toxic or non-toxic medium.
I’ve had several students turn to tempera because they’ve developed a reaction to oil paint. The various
drying oils (linseed, walnut, poppy, safflower) in oil paint are not toxic (although some individuals may be
allergic to them). Potential toxicity in oil paints come from various modifiers (cobalt, lead, resins dissolved in
solvent, etc.) and oil solvents. Tempera is less toxic in these respects, as there are no additives and its solvent
is water. However, as mentioned in Misconception #11, pigments can be harmful depending on choice of
colors and how they’re handled in powdered form.
13. Egg Tempera is a fragile medium, especially compared to oil.
Due to its high PVC, the surfaces of egg tempera paintings are more open than oils, and this porosity
increases vulnerability to moisture, which can cause detrimental effects. Tempera’s high PVC also creates a
microscopically irregular surface (versus the smoother, more sealed surface of oils), and so temperas are more
difficult to clean as they age.4 And while all paint films, including oil, grow brittle over time, egg tempera
paint films become more brittle than oil.
On the other hand, there are several aspects of egg tempera that contribute to durability. Temperas are
almost universally painted on wood panels, and while there are challenges to wood supports they are
nonetheless much more rigid than, for example, canvas. Most oils are on canvas, which can flex, expand, or
puncture, leading to cracks, delamination, or holes. While oil has an advantage over tempera in terms of paint
film flexibility, tempera has the benefit of a more stable support.
Additionally egg tempera is applied in very thin layers (it’s not capable of thick or impasto paint) and thin paint
layers are less likely to crack or delaminate. Oil can be applied thinly too (although rarely as thin as tempera)
but is often applied much thicker or impasto.
Finally, most modern oil painters work with tubed paints. Commercially produced supplies offer artists the
“luxury”, if they so choose, to not fully know or understand their supplies. Because pure egg tempera would
putrefy in a tube, tempera artists must make paint from scratch. Most tempera artists also make their own
gesso panels. These practices can compel tempera painters to understand materials and methods on a deeper
level. In short, tempera painters are often (albeit not uniformly) informed craftsmen (as once was true of all
traditional artists), and this can (although not invariably) translate into better-made paintings.

In short, each medium comes with benefits and drawbacks, and ultimately all paintings are perishable. Given
that egg tempera has been in use for at least 1700 years (longer than oil) talk of its fragility can be overstated.
14. Expensive, kolinsky sable watercolor brushes are requisite for tempera painting
Because tempera is a water-based paint that dries to the touch within seconds it is good at making fine lines.
Early Renaissance painters were less interested in natural, atmospheric effects; they made the most of
tempera’s linear quality and modeled form with crosshatched lines. Kolinsky (a type of weasel) sable, round
brushes come to an especially precise point and are very good at making fine lines, so they are most often
recommended for tempera artists. However I prefer synthetics brushes, especially Taklons, which come to a
point but also can be shaped between fingers into a broader stroke. I also apply tempera with large, flat
watercolor brushes; inexpensive, hardware store “chip” brushes; kitchen sponges; cosmetic sponges; rubber
stamps; fingertips; and anything else that suits the task at hand. An expensive, genuine sable brush works well
with egg tempera but is not requisite.

4 Varnishing egg tempera helps protect the original paint surface and allows for cleaning. However varnishing high PVC paint surface
also comes with challenges and drawbacks, as discussed in Misconception #29.
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15. Tempera must be painted on wood panels and traditional gesso, sanded ivory-smooth.
Egg tempera paint becomes brittle with age, so working on an inflexible support is important for durability.
However it doesn’t have to be a wood panel. Wood, the best option in the Renaissance, has drawbacks: a
grain pattern that can telegraph up to the paint layers, and a tendency to absorb and release water (causing
movement and cracks). Aluminum or plastic panels may prove a better support for tempera, and
experiments are underway. It is also possible to paint tempera on paper or parchment - as long as, due to
tempera’s brittleness, these surfaces are relatively inflexible (mounted on a solid support or bound in a book)
and the paint is applied thinly.
Whether tempera must be painted on a traditional, “true gesso” (animal glue and chalk or gypsum) ground
remains an open question. So far I’ve found nothing to equal true gesso’s absorbency, which creates the best
working properties and adhesion for egg tempera. However several manufacturers now offer high PVC,
synthetic polymer-based grounds marketed specifically for egg tempera. In my experience, these slightly less
absorbent surfaces are suitable for a limited working method in tempera (dry brush), but don’t work well with
more water intensive methods.
Sanding gesso to ivory-like perfection was requisite for Renaissance artists who wanted their gold-leafed
surfaces to emulate real metal. A flawlessly smooth gesso surface is lovely to paint upon, but technically not a
necessity (unless you are trying to mimic the look of gold).
16. You can combine any colored powder with egg yolk to make tempera paint.
Physically, you can. But if you want a painting to last, you need pigments that are chemically stable and
lightfast. For example, many pretty, organic, plant-derived colors fade, sometimes quickly. Beets may exude a
gorgeous red but if you turned them into pigment the color wouldn’t last. You also should know the toxicity
of a color. I recommend buying artist grade pigments from a respected supplier so you can look up a color’s
properties and understand it better. If you want to make your own pigments, a good place to start is native
earths, which are inorganic and tend to be durable (but need to be rinsed of organic matter before use).

17. You must grind your pigments before working with them.
There is a distinction between grinding and dispersing (or milling). A clump of earth or lapis lazuli stone is
ground (pulverized) into powder with a mortar and pestle. A powdered pigment at the art store has been
ground already to the correct size. (Many pigments have an optimal particle size – if ground too fine, some
lose color). So you do not need to grind powdered pigments; you need to disperse (or mill) them, either within
water (to make a pigment paste or “dispersion”) and/or within egg yolk (to make tempera paint). A muller
and glass slab (or mechanical mill) are best for dispersing, but a palette knife works well for small quantities.
The larger the particle size (as in earth colors), the grittier a pigment feels during dispersion; smaller particle
sizes require more effort to properly disperse.
18. To make pigment paste combine powdered pigment and water in a jar and shake vigorously.
For shaking to succeed, you’d need a lot of water; enough that you’d make a messy, pigment liquid instead of
a pigment paste. Add just enough water to yield a toothpaste-like consistency, and stir rather than shake.
19. The fresher the egg, the stronger the yolk sac.
It does seem that the yolk sacs of old eggs are prone to breaking. However I work with fresh laid eggs from a
neighbor’s free-range hens, and sometimes they too have thin, easily torn sacs. A yolk sac is not a certain
determinant of an egg’s freshness.
20. Brown eggs are better than white eggs.
Having worked with hundreds of eggs of both colors, I haven’t noticed a difference.
21. There is a single, correct ratio of egg yolk to water to make egg yolk medium.
Tempera texts often state a specific ratio of yolk to water to make egg yolk medium; they may state 1 part egg
to anywhere from 2 to 9 parts water. In fact, the ratio is not fixed but variable, and depends on the artist
(what sort of medium is preferred) and the nature of the specific yolk (how rich it is).

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The water in egg yolk medium ultimately evaporates. Water is not the binder; it is merely the vehicle (diluent)
that thins and helps you manipulate the paint. So you can add any percentage of water you like to create
whatever working properties you desire in your medium and paint (thin, thick, or in between). Additionally,
not all yolks are the same – some require a bit less water, others more, to achieve the consistency of medium
you prefer. Rather than measure, its better to mix a medium that feels correct, relative to your needs. (In
egg tempera, the critical ratio is the amount of egg yolk to pigment. That ratio is, more or less, one part yolk to
one part pigment, regardless of how much water has been added to either your medium or pigment paste.)
22. Add vinegar (or vodka, or wine) to your egg yolk medium.
Vinegar, alcohol, and other acidic liquids can preserve egg yolk and help difficult to disperse pigments (such
as alizarin) combine with water. However acidity can be detrimental to some colors (such as ultramarine). I
don’t use a preservative in my medium. Under average studio temperatures egg yolk lasts perfectly well for 1
or 2 days (although on especially hot days I keep my jar of medium in a dish of ice while painting). I keep
medium refrigerated between painting sessions, and crack a fresh egg as needed. As for dispersion, only a
few colors need help to do so; to those pigments pastes I add a few drops of oxgall or other dispersion agent.
23. The more egg yolk medium used in a glaze, the more brilliant and glowing the glaze appears.
The primary function of yolk is to bind pigments to each other and the painting surface. Using increasing
amounts of egg won’t increase the “glow”; it merely creates a gummy surface more likely to crack. Egg yolk
doesn’t create beautiful color – pigments do. Whatever the medium, a good glaze is one in which a thin,
transparent layer of color is evenly dispersed. A medium (which, in tempera, is egg yolk and water), thinned
to the proper consistency, is merely the means to achieve this.
If a painting is under-tempered (not enough egg), applying an occasional watered-down layer of egg yolk
medium (called a “nourishing layer”) can improve tempering, increase saturation and change the transparency
of some pigments. But too many nourishing layers cause problems - don’t overdo them.
24. Egg tempera paint stinks.
Only if you work with a putrefied egg. Keep your medium cool; refrigerate it when not in use; start with a
fresh egg as needed; and make sure that brushes, sponges, and eyedroppers (particularly the eyedropper head)
are cleaned after each use. And don’t put egg tempera paint in a tube – that will soon stink.
25. Commercially produced egg tempera paints in tubes are the same as homemade tempera paint.
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.
26. You begin a tempera painting with an ink underdrawing and/or green earth underpainting.
The systematic working methods of traditional painters weren’t arbitrary or merely for the sake of difficulty -
they helped painters make good visual decisions. For example, a strong arrangement of values is fundamental
to good design. This is why most traditional methods incorporate a monochromatic stage, such as an ink
underdrawing. Ink on white gesso is also a good way to establish a drawing and enhance darks in a
composition. A green earth underpainting contributes to cool halftones in flesh, another old master aesthetic.
In short, the traditional egg tempera working method is a good one if you aspire to traditional aesthetics. But
if you don’t aspire to those visuals, than neither an ink underdrawing nor green earth layers are necessary.
It is also possible to achieve traditional aesthetics using modern working methods. For example, I don’t do
an ink underdrawing to see values; instead I scan my full color, initial drawing on the computer and convert it
to black and white. Nor do I use ink to develop darks because I can quickly build up layers of dark paint with
relatively thick paint on sponges, another unconventional but effective approach. Successful as they are, the
Italian Renaissance and icon methods for tempera are not the only ways to develop tempera paintings.
27. Colors should not be intermixed on the palette.
Thanks to modern chemistry, contemporary painters can choose from a extensive selection of intense, high
chroma pigments. Pure hues were much harder to come by in the 1400s; consequently Renaissance painters
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were reluctant to intermingle a costly, colorful lapis blue with an inexpensive, common earth color.
Additionally, ancient thinking reflected belief in a universe organized through divinely ordained hierarchies:
sexes were kept separate, races didn’t intermingle, king and peasant were forever distinct, and, according to
some Egyptian and medieval texts, colors should not be intermixed. For both practical and philosophical
reasons, early tempera painters kept pigments in individual palette wells and only mixed “optically” by
applying successive layers of unadulterated hues. Glazing with pure color is still a useful option for modern
tempera painters – but it’s also perfectly fine to intermix colors directly on the palette.
28. Egg tempera is applied in crosshatch strokes. Form in tempera is modeled via crosshatching.
Tempera’s ability to render fine lines makes it well suited to crosshatching, and three-dimensional form is
often modeled that way. But there are other ways to apply tempera: broad strokes made with a flat brush;
puddles of color laid down in a “petit lac” wash; atmospheric daubs left by a sponge. I model form with a
combination of sponged on layers and brushstrokes, applied so thinly they leave virtually no mark behind.
29. Egg tempera paintings should not be varnished.
A cured egg tempera painting can be polished with a cloth to bring out a soft, semi-gloss finish unlike any
other medium, and many tempera painters promote (sometimes zealously) this unique look. Varnishing
comes with consequences. A varnish alters a painting’s appearance; colors and values appear more saturated
(which may be desirable or not, depending on the artist) and changes tempera’s natural “egg-shell” shell to
either matte, semi-gloss, gloss or high gloss (depending on the varnish). Varnishing offers protection to the
original tempera surface. However varnishes settle into and mechanically adhere with porous, high PVC egg
tempera paint, making removal extremely difficult, and may yellow (more or less, depending on the varnish)
with age.5 In other words, there are pros and cons to varnishing (as is true for varnishing other mediums),
just as there are pros and cons to not varnishing.
30. Egg tempera paintings have a soft, “egg-shell” shine.
As mentioned above, the surface of a properly tempered and well-cured egg tempera, when polished, yields a
low level shine that is often compared to an eggshell. This is an accurate but limited description of egg
tempera’s finish potential; in fact, I’ve seen temperas polished to a glossy, porcelain-like surface. To achieve
this it’s important to have excellent tempering (correct ratio of egg to pigment) and to begin very gently
polishing the surface early on in the painting process. Don’t bring out too great a shine at first, or subsequent
paint layers may bead up and not adhere well. Just stay attentive to the surface while painting; keep it lightly
polished and smooth throughout; then, when the painting is complete and cured, polish up to high gloss. Any
soft cloth (silk, worn cotton) or minimally abrasive material (fine cheesecloth, microfiber) can be used; polish
with attention and care, so as not to mar the paint surface. Properly tempered paint that is well bound will
tolerate a gentle buffing; this smoothes out microscopic surface irregularities (created by a high PVC paint)
and eventually, with enough gentle buffing, you can pull out a nearly mirror-like shine.
31. Egg tempera paintings should be framed under glass.
Egg tempera paint takes 3 to 6 months to polymerize or cure (depending on layers, drying conditions, etc.).
Until then, the surface is vulnerable to scratches. Once cured the paint is more durable. Glass provides
protection but, on the downside, can interfere with “seeing” a painting, and may trap moisture that
encourages mold. Of all the challenges to a painting, water is one of the worst and adversely affects every
element (support, ground, paint, varnish) to compromise long-term durability. All artwork is vulnerable to
damage if poorly treated and must be handled with care, and egg temperas are no exception. While some
conservators recommend temperas be framed under glass, my preference is to apply a varnish, encourage
careful handling and don’t frame with glass. It’s an individual decision.
32. Egg tempera is labor intensive. It is a very difficult medium.
There is truth to this, but it tends to be overstated. It takes time to make paint from scratch, daily - especially
if you’re a beginner. It takes time to furnish a studio with unfamiliar supplies and become conversant with
them. The requisite craftsmanship in tempera makes the initial learning curve steeper than other mediums

5Isolating the porous surface of egg tempera with a very thin, minimal coating of a flexible, non-yellowing isolator allows subsequent
varnish layers to be more readily removed, if needed.
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that can be store bought. In the seeming tidal wave of new information, beginners may forget that regular
practice brings knowledge, skill and efficiency. After years of working in tempera my studio is well equipped,
I understand the medium, and it takes a fraction of the time it once did to prepare my palette for a day of
painting (in about 10 – 20 minutes I’m ready to paint). On the other end, clean up is fast, easy, and non-toxic.
All mediums have inherent frustrations, and tempera is no exception. But if you find a medium that suits
your nature and goals, it most likely feels sensible and well-behaved. Tempera, for the most part, is a
deliberate, slow, layered, meditative way to work. It’s not for everyone, but for those to whom it is suited,
egg tempera makes all the sense in the world – especially if you overcome the misconceptions that
unnecessarily limit its potential

EGG TEMPERA MISCONCEPTIONS & THE RENAISSANCE

One of the primary reasons egg tempera is not well understood is the influence of the Early Renaissance.
“Renaissance painting” and “egg tempera” are so entwined that the aesthetics, materials and methods of the
1400s are often perceived as inevitable to tempera. They are not, as outlined below.
I. EARLY RENAISSANCE AESTHETICS
Late Gothic, early Renaissance imagery contains visuals that were, while not invariable, very common. They
include:
1. High key. Predominance of light values, with fewer dark values and blacks.
2. High chroma. Color was pure and “jewel-like” (local color was less affected by light and shadow).
3. Cool color temperature. Tendency towards an overall cool color temperature.
4. Minimal light and shadow effects. Forms were not rendered as volumetric, with smaller value
differences from light to shadow (no chiaroscuro); chroma was not as impacted by light and shadow (lights
not as bleached out, shadows not as dirtied); fewer or no cast shadows.
5. More idealized, less naturalistic imagery. Archetypal figures, forms and landscapes (including gold leaf
backgrounds).
These aesthetics reflect the culture and consciousness of the late Gothic, early Renaissance era. Fifteenth
century visuals are not inevitable to egg tempera, as evidenced by many contemporary tempera paintings that
contrast with Renaissance aesthetics (Andrew Wyeth’s paintings being an example).
II. EARLY RENAISSANCE MATERIALS & METHODS
Late Gothic, early Renaissance workshops taught a systematic working method that relied on excellent but
limited materials, such as:
1. Wood supports and traditional gesso grounds sanded ivory smooth
2. Silverpoint and ink underdrawings
3. Historic pigments6
4. Green earth underpaintings
5. Cinabrese (vermillion & lead white) flesh tones
6. Layered, pure colors only (no intermixing colors on palette)
7. Crosshatched brushstrokes applied with genuine sable brushes

These methods are sometimes presumed to be intrinsic to egg tempera, but they are not; they are merely
particular to the late Gothic, early Renaissance period in which egg tempera was at its peak usage. There are
benefits and drawbacks to traditional aesthetics, materials and methods. A few examples include:
- Early painters preferred minimal light effects, which create less naturalistic, more decorative painting (a
personal, aesthetic choice).
- Historic colors are less chromatically intense and thus easier to control but may be toxic, fugitive and/or
expensive.
- Lead white contributes to durable painting but is toxic and prone to darkening.

6Of course what we now call “historic pigments” weren’t all considered as such in the 1400s; a 15th century palette merely used the
colors (some of which date to prehistoric times, but others newly developed in the Renaissance) available at that time.
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- Ink underdrawings establish values but take time to develop.
….and so on. Renaissance aesthetics, materials and methods are a successful way to work in egg tempera, but
are neither requisite nor the only way. Each artist must decide individually which traditional means are or are
not relevant (technically and aesthetically) to his or her goals as a painter.
For more on the changes in culture and consciousness that took place in the late Gothic to Renaissance era,
(and corresponding changes in aesthetics, materials and working methods) see “The Transition from Egg
Tempera to Oil Paint”. Misconceptions about egg tempera limit its potential. My hope is to clarify some
persistent myths so that the medium can be more correctly understood and creatively used.

THE TRANSITION FROM EGG TEMPERA TO OIL PAINT

The transition from tempera to oil in the 1400s is often explained as a sudden technical innovation: Egg
tempera was the only paint option for many centuries, and art was constrained by the limitations inherent to
tempera. Then, in the 15th century, oil paints were suddenly invented. (Single-handedly by Jan Van Eyck,
according to the 16th century historian Vasari). As soon as artists switched to the more malleable medium of
oil, painting became increasingly realistic. In short, a new paint changed art (and, in many minds, changed it
for the better).
Oil painting, however, was not a sudden innovation. The use of oils can be traced back to a long, gradual
development. The book On Divers Arts by Theophilus (c. 1070-1125) gives instructions for working in oil,
and crudely refined oils were used for protective coatings and decorative work throughout the Middle Ages.
Several 13th century northern European paintings, such the Westminster Retable, were rendered exclusively
in oil with considerable skill. Oil glazes were applied over certain pigments and gilded areas of 14th century
Italian temperas. Oil paint, in fact, had been around for centuries – it just wasn’t widely used.
Cennino Cennini (c.1370-1440) said that the purpose of art was to paint other worlds, not this world.
Tempera paint is water-based and thin. It has an incorporeal, ethereal quality. It is applied in a gradual,
meditative way. It’s difficult to render robustly three-dimensional form because darks aren’t as saturated and
deep as in oil, highlights can’t be painted impasto, and smooth transitions are difficult to achieve. These so-
called “limitations” of tempera made it ideally suited to medieval thinking and imagery. One can imagine that
oil paint might have felt uncomfortably viscous and overtly material to a 12th century painter!7
There was a pronounced shift in western thinking in the 15th century. People became less focused on “the
heavens” and increasingly interested in the physical world. As soon as the culture had the desire for greater
realism in art, oil painting quickly developed into a sophisticated, well-understood medium. (At the same
time and equally quickly, mathematical linear perspective, which creates convincing three-dimensional space,
was codified; anatomical studies entered into artists’ training; and more naturalistic light and shadow effects
became the norm – not coincidentally, perhaps.) About a single generation separates the Wilton Diptych
c.1395, painted in egg tempera, and Van Eyck’s oil masterpieces, such as the Arnolfini Portrait, 1434. From
this perspective art wasn’t influenced by an innovation in paint. Instead the culture evolved toward a
different understanding of what is “real” (physical matter versus spiritual imagery). This new way of seeing
the world was reflected in art and led to a new medium and different type of painting. It was natural for 15th
century painters to be drawn to oil. Oil is a more material medium that is slightly better than tempera at
representing physical matter, and Renaissance artists were within, as well as creating, a culture that was
increasing interested in the natural, material world.

7 While many modern artists love the material physicality of oils, there are still some 20th c. painters with a “medieval” sensibility.
Andrew Wyeth (1917-2009), the 20th century’s leading egg tempera painter, felt oil was greasy, wet and slimy; he didn’t like its “slick
manipulation” (as described by Wyeth’s biographer Richard Merryman). Wyeth said, “Oil is hot and fiery, almost like a summer night,
where tempera is a cool breeze, dry, crackling like winter branches blowing in the wind. I'm a dry person, really. I'm not a juicy
painter. There's no fight in oil. It doesn't have the austere in it. The difference is like the difference between Beethoven and Bach.”
Another contemporary tempera artist, Lora Arbrador (b. 1949), states it more bluntly, “For me watercolor is too wishy washy, wimpy.
People love the lush buttery feel of oil paints but I find them greasy and gross. Egg Tempera is the perfect medium - an emulsion. It's
juuussst right!"

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It’s interesting to look at artists’ choices of medium during this transitional period. Fra Angelico, a deeply
devout man, stayed with water-based tempera and fresco painting. Botticelli was drawn to both humanism
and intense religiosity, with subject matter that ranged from mythology to mysticism. He began as a tempera
painter but later alternated between tempera, tempera grassa, and oil. Piero della Francesca, a renown
mathematician and forward thinker, switched from tempera to oil early on and never looked back.

© Koo Schadler 2019 w website: www.kooschadler.com w email: info@kooschadler.com

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