Egg tempera paints

O.F. van den Brink, J.J. Boon, P.B. O Connor, M.C. Duursma, and R.M.A. Heeren, Matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization Fourier transform mass spectrometric analysis of oxyge nated triglycerides and phosphatidylcholines in egg tempera paint dosimeters used for environ mental monitoring of museum display conditions, J. Mass Spectrom., 36, 479 492 (2001). 

In positive ion mode, the characteristic peaks representative of the binding media were fatty acids from lead soaps (of palmitic acid at m/z 461 463 and of stearic acid at m/z 489 491). Other peaks corresponding to mono- and diacylglycerol cations, protonated stearic acid or its acylium ions could be found in the spectra of the reference products but not in the paint sample. The spectrum of lead white egg tempera paint exhibits peaks of phosphocholine (m/z 184) and protonated ketocholesterol (m/z 401). These peaks were not found in the spectrum from the cross-section. In negative ion mode, the spectrum of the oil... 

Why are frescoes painted in the seventeenth century with egg tempera paint still visible and beautiful today ... 

Each artist has a favorite medium that best fits his or her needs. Following is a short description of various paint media—watercolor, egg tempera paint, oil paint, and acrylic paint—and their advantages and disadvantages. A discussion of poster paint (or tempera paint), suitable for school use, is also included. 

Egg yolk acts as an emulsion and makes the paint water soluble. It does not yellow, crack, or darken the paint. Egg tempera paints are more permanent than paints mixed with any other binder. 

More often, modern artists use canvas supports for their paintings and coat their canvases with gesso. In 1979, Andrew Wyeth used such a canvas to paint Braids, a portrait of a woman. Interestingly, he used egg tempera paints similar to those used hundreds of years ago. 

In Activity 3.3 you will experiment with nonobjective art using the gesso grounds prepared in Activity 3.2 and egg tempera paint prepared in Activity 2.5. Egg tempera was used by many artists in Europe during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Today, it is still used by some artists, notably Andrew Wyeth. In this technique, egg yolk is mixed with distilled water to form a binder, and a pigment is added to make egg tempera paint, which is applied to a gesso ground. 

Students will mix pigment with egg yolk and distilled water to prepare egg tempera paint (or use prepared egg tempera paint). 

Egg yolks, pigments (see below), powdered or liquid tempera (poster paint) in assorted colors, and distilled water, or egg tempera paint prepared in Activities 2.3-2.5 gesso grounds prepared in Activity 3.2 narrow-width paintbrushes with soft bristles paper towels mixing trays water containers pencils. 

If egg tempera paints remain from Activity 2.5, they should be used. If not, follow Activity 2.5 to prepare egg tempera paints. (In Activity 2.5, students combined pigments with binders to make paints.) These paints will be blue (cobalt carbonate pigment), deep blue (azurite pigment, 2CuC03 Cu(0H) 2), and black (carbon pigment). 

New and/or different color egg tempera paints can be prepared as follows ... 

Handmade paper tempera paint (poster paint) oil or egg tempera paint prepared in Activity 2.5 paintbrushes mixing trays water containers water construction paper, newspaper, magazine pages, and other available paper bits of cloth, thread, and other materials scissors glue 12-x-18-in. collage ground, such as cardboard. 

Activity 3.3 Nonobjective Art Egg Tempera Paint on a Gesso Ground.. 131 Support for the Artist Paper.132... 

The earhest written references to the use of oils as paint media date from the twelfth century. The van Eycks, who traditionally have been credited as the inventors of oil painting, improved the technique to such a degree that oil quickly replaced egg tempera as the prevalent medium. 

S.M. Halpine, A New Amino Acid Analysis System for Characterizing Small Samples Identification of Egg Tempera and Distemper in a Painting by Cosimo Tura, Studies in Conservation, 37, 22 38 (1992). 

Each painter had his own technique the binding medium was thus prepared using different additives, giving rise to a variety of recipes for each technique. For example, it is believed that fig latex (a white liquid exuded by the fig tree) was commonly added to the egg tempera, and that animal or plant resins were added to oil- and wax-based binders. On account of their adhesive properties, these materials were used not only as paint binders, but also as consolidants in restorations, as ingredients in varnishes used to finish paintings, and as ingredients of mordants to apply metallic leaf decorations. 

The egg temperas used to paint frescoes in the seventeenth century contained pigments that were absorbed into freshly spread wet plaster and remained vibrant as long as the plaster survived. The paint became part of the plaster. 

It can be seen that, historically, a paint is anything that contains pigment, a colored, powdered substance, and a binder, a material that evenly disperses the pigment and adheres to a surface when the paint is applied and then dries. A pigment combined with a binder makes a paint. A medium is used to dilute a paint. The composition of watercolor, egg tempera, oil, and acrylic paints is discussed in this chapter. 

Are you ready to paint your wagon Now you should understand the composition of various paints—watercolor, oil, egg tempera, and acrylic—and how paints are related to solutions. You should also be able to categorize paint in the vast world of matter as homogeneous solutions. However, are you ready to apply paint to a wagon or a work of art ... 

Egg tempera was used as a paint medium at least as early as the fourteenth century. It was the dominant medium in Europe until the development of oil paint. In egg tempera, powdered pigment is bound with egg and water. Paint is applied layer upon layer, imparting a luminous quality unlike any other paint medium. The advantages and disadvantages of egg tempera are about equal ... 

Homemade tempera paints were prepared according to old recipes dating from 1859 (egg based) and 1894 (milk based) in the latter, sheep, goat, and bovine milk were used. Mixtures of milk and egg tempera were placed on microscope slides and dried at room tanperature. It was shown that 1 pg of egg protein was required to give good quality MS/MS spectra, appropriate for protein identification. 

On some paintings and manuscripts, an inappropriate blend of adjacent colours or mixtures of pigments and binders was achieved Raman microscopy has identified two examples of these in cadmium sulfide and copper arsenoacetate (which yields black copper sulfide) and egg tempera with lead white (which yields black lead sulfide). The term inappropriate here refers to the instability of pigments and pigment mixtures resulting in a chemical reaction over periods of time and through aerial or substratal influences. 

Of the various tempera, egg was the most important in European painting, both in wall and panel painting. It was Htde used outside Europe. The main period of its use was in the Middle Ages and early Renaissance. After the sixteenth century, however, it was rarely used, as drying oils (qv) had become the preeminent media. 

Egg yolk and white were used in paintings either separated or, more often, together. Egg or egg yolk temperas served as the most common protein binders in colour layers of artworks. Egg white alone was used in book illustrations, but it was usually not involved in other artworks because colour layers containing it were too fragile. Egg yolk in temperas has always been popular because of the higher content of lipids, which make the layers elastic and increases their adhesion to the surface. 

Tempera tem-po-ro [It tempera, literally, temper, fr. temperare to temper, fr. L] (1832) n. (1) A rapidly drying paint consisting of egg white (or egg yolk, or a mixture of egg white and yolk), gum, pigment, and water especially used in painting murals. (2) A method of painting using tempera. 

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