Materials & Techniques

Oil paint is pigment ground with oil. Linseed oil is most commonly used, although poppy-seed and walnut oil are also suitable. Whereas tempera paint and frescos dry rapidly and require speedy paint application, oil paint takes much longer to dry. Artists in the 15th century exploited the medium's slow drying time in order to create highly detailed images that could be reworked over days or weeks. Artists and audiences also appreciated the brilliant colors produced by layering oil paint in thin glazes.

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 i

Much of our knowledge of painting techniques comes from technical examinations of paintings. However, we also have access to painters' recipe books, some dating from Roman times, which describe the manufacture of paints, varnishes, and gesso. In the Medieval period, painters' guilds controlled the quality of craftsmanship with long apprenticeships and set rules for the manufacture and use of painting materials. Artists' techniques and materials are well documented by contemporary critics in the Renaissance.