GENERAL DESCRIPTION
This medium, practiced extensively by 14th-century Italian artists and often associated with 15th-century Flemish painting, demands careful draftsmanship and exacting precision. Traditionally, tempera consists of pigment mixed with egg yolk and water but the whole egg or egg white may also be used. Today the term tempera is sometimes used to include pigment mixed with glue, gum or casein.
In the 14th and 15th centuries, tempera paintings were executed on gessoed wood panels. Prior to the application of paint, the wood support is usually coated with several layers of gesso and sanded smooth. The artist sketches or traces his drawing onto the board and applies the paint. Tempera must be applied in very thin layers to prevent cracking. Precise brushstrokes are used since the paint dries quickly and cannot be mixed on the painting as oil can. The paint dries to a smooth matte finish, but the surface can be varnished to obtain a glossy surface.
Artists' experimentation with the addition of oil to increase their paint's transparency eventually led to the use of pure oil paint. Oil had replaced tempera as the standard painting technique by the late 16th century, although tempera was still used for underpainting by some artists. Tempera enjoyed a renewed popularity with American artists during the 1930s-1950s, many of whom apparently rediscovered the technique independently.
NOTES
Source- Anne Bromberg, "Painting: Materials and Techniques," DMA research document, Education files, 1986-1987.
This note was routed and reviewed by Sue in october 2016. The changes have been made and the note is being tagged #routed until the updates are shown in GDocs, at which point it can be tagged #complete.
Rule- any reason to limit by classifications?
See example in oil paint or acrylic paint:
set operator as or
apply to objects where classification_name equals paintings and medium contains oil
apply to objects where classification_name equals collages and medium contains oil
apply to objects where classification_name equals drawings and medium contains oil
apply to content where tag_value equals 300015050
ASSOCIATED CONTENT CHUNKS
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
IMAGE ASSETS
WEB RESOURCES
ARCHIVAL RESOURCES
FUN FACTS
TEACHING IDEAS
RULES
Set operator as or
Apply to objects where medium contains tempera
apply to content where tag_value equals 300015033
apply to content where tag_value equals 300015064
Category
rules_operator
OR
General Description
This medium, practiced extensively by 14th-century Italian artists and often associated with 15th-century Flemish painting, demands careful draftsmanship and exacting precision. Traditionally, tempera consists of pigment mixed with egg yolk and water but the whole egg or egg white may also be used. Today the term tempera is sometimes used to include pigment mixed with glue, gum or casein.
In the 14th and 15th centuries, tempera paintings were executed on gessoed wood panels. Prior to the application of paint, the wood support is usually coated with several layers of gesso and sanded smooth. The artist sketches or traces his drawing onto the board and applies the paint. Tempera must be applied in very thin layers to prevent cracking. Precise brushstrokes are used since the paint dries quickly and cannot be mixed on the painting as oil can. The paint dries to a smooth matte finish, but the surface can be varnished to obtain a glossy surface.
Artists' experimentation with the addition of oil to increase their paint's transparency eventually led to the use of pure oil paint. Oil had replaced tempera as the standard painting technique by the late 16th century, although tempera was still used for underpainting by some artists. Tempera enjoyed a renewed popularity with American artists during the 1930s-1950s, many of whom apparently rediscovered the technique independently.
Fun Facts
Archival Resources
Web Resources
Notes
Source- Anne Bromberg, "Painting: Materials and Techniques," DMA research document, Education files, 1986-1987.
This note was routed and reviewed by Sue in october 2016. The changes have been made and the note is being tagged #routed until the updates are shown in GDocs, at which point it can be tagged #complete.
Rule- any reason to limit by classifications?
See example in oil paint or acrylic paint:
set operator as or
apply to objects where classification_name equals paintings and medium contains oil
apply to objects where classification_name equals collages and medium contains oil
apply to objects where classification_name equals drawings and medium contains oil
apply to content where tag_value equals 300015050
rules
Apply To
Objects
medium
Contains
tempera
Apply To
Content
tag_value
Equals
300015033
Apply To
Content
tag_value
Equals
300015064
source file
materials_and_techniques-0201.xml.nores