The Birth of Venus, by Sandro Botticelli, c. 1486, tempera on canvas Source: Wikimedia Commons
Tempera is a term applied to any paint in which the pigment is dissolved in water and mixed (tempered) with an organic gum or glue, and paintings done in this medium.[1] Sometimes called distemper in English,[2][a]Tempera is the Italian for “distemper”.[3] the term is now generally confined to the most common form of the medium, egg tempera, in which the binding agent is egg yolk.[1] Tempera has been in use since ancient times, and has been found on Ancient Egyptian sarcophagus decorations.[4]
Tempera was commonly used for painting wooden panels during the medieval period, but had been largely superseded by oil painting by the early 16th century. Although the colours of tempera are more vivid and luminous than oils, their restricted colour range ruled out the more naturalistic effects available with oil paints.[1]
We use cookies to optimise our website and our service. By clicking on “All cookies”, you consent to us using all cookies and plug-ins as described in our Cookie policy.
Functional cookies
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.