Tempera

Tempera is a painting medium made by binding pigments in a water-soluble emulsion, traditionally egg yolk, and diluting it with water. It dries quickly into a durable, matte film.

Egg tempera: A paint made by dispersing pigment in an emulsion whose principal binder is egg yolk. It is the traditional tempera formulation named by the medium’s defining binder.
Tempera painting: A painting practice that uses tempera as its principal paint medium. It is the direct artistic practice built around the medium’s rapid-drying paint.
Pliny the Elder: A Roman author whose surviving Natural History describes art materials and practices. His account provides evidence for ancient pigment-binding and painting methods.
Madonna and Child Enthroned (Cimabue): A late thirteenth-century altarpiece by Cimabue, painted in tempera on a large wooden panel. Its monumental panel demonstrates tempera’s role in Italian devotional painting.
Egg yolk: The nutrient-rich central portion of an egg, containing water, proteins, and emulsifying phospholipids. Its lecithin helps stabilize the oil-and-water mixture that binds traditional tempera.
Panel painting: A painting made on a rigid wooden support rather than canvas or a wall. Tempera was widely used on prepared wooden panels, which support fine detail.
Theophilus Presbyter: The name associated with a medieval treatise on crafts, including painting and pigment preparation. His instructions preserve practical medieval knowledge relevant to tempera painting.
Maestà (Duccio): A large early fourteenth-century altarpiece by Duccio, made for Siena Cathedral. Duccio used tempera and gold on panel for its detailed narrative scenes.
Emulsion: A mixture in which droplets of one liquid are dispersed throughout another immiscible liquid. Tempera’s binder is an emulsion that keeps oil and water components combined.
Icon: A sacred image used in Eastern Orthodox and other Christian traditions. Egg tempera became a durable, finely controlled medium for painted religious icons.

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