Egg tempera
Description
A tempera paint prepared with the whole egg, the yolk yolk, or the white white as a medium. Egg yolk is a natural emulsion containing a homogeneous mixture of lipids and water. Lecithin and albumen act as emulsifying agents. Traditionally, the pure egg yolk, with its surface delicately dried by rolling in the palms, was poured from its yolk sac then ground with pigments. Vinegar or oil clove oil was sometimes added as a preservative. Other recipes use whole egg, as an emulsifier, mixed with oil linseed oil and water (see grassa tempera grassa). Occasionally a natural resin was also added. Some sulfur containing pigments, vermilion, and cadmium colors, are incompatible with egg tempera (Doerner, 1934).
Synonyms and Related Terms
tempera de huevo (Esp.); tempera magra (Esp.); tempera l'uf (Fr.); tmpera de ovo (Port.)
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Additional Information
M.Doerner, The Materials of the Artist, Harcourt, Brace & Company, 1934. R. J. Gettens and G.L. Stout, Painting Materials, A Short Encyclopaedia, Dover Publications, New York, 1966.
Authority
- Art and Architecture Thesaurus Online, http://www.getty.edu/research/tools/vocabulary/aat/, J. Paul Getty Trust, Los Angeles, 2000
- R. J. Gettens, G.L. Stout, R. J. Gettens, G.L. Stout, Painting Materials, A Short Encyclopaedia, Dover Publications, New York, 1966
- M. Doerner, M. Doerner, The Materials of the Artist, Harcourt, Brace & Co., 1934
- Reed Kay, Reed Kay, The Painter's Guide To Studio Methods and Materials, Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1983
- Ralph Mayer, Ralph Mayer, A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques, Harper and Row Publishers, New York, 1969 (also 1945 printing)
- Thomas B. Brill, Thomas B. Brill, Light Its Interaction with Art and Antiquities, Plenum Press, New York City, 1980
- Teri Hensick, Teri Hensick, contributed information, 1998