The simple egg is the basis of tempera painting.
By painting with tempera, not only will you find yourself laboring as an artist, but also a scientist and cook as well. Influential painters of this medium literally put all of their eggs in one basket--the tempera basket. Tempera paintings are an antecedent of oil paintings and are composed using egg yolk. While the process of painting using tempera is much more labor-intensive than oil painting, artists have always been attracted to the jewel-like paintings that result from this meticulous process. Whether in a small Islamic manuscript or an over the top mural, tempera paintings are sure to inspire.
Etymology
Tempera painting gets its name from the Latin word "temperara," meaning to mingle; to temper. By carefully tempering or mixing egg yolk with precise amounts of water, pigments, and occasionally oils, as perhaps a scientist and cook might do, a pasty substance results. Tempera painters are not just painters, they are masters of a rigorous and meticulous technique.
History
The tempera technique has been traced to the ancient Egyptians, Russian and Greek church influences, and Islamic manuscripts. Yet it was Italian Renaissance painters from the 13th to the 15th centuries who both perfected and popularized the technique. Ironically, it would be another Italian painter, Leonardo da Vinci, who revolutionized the course of art history with his renowned "Mona Lisa" done with purely oil paints. Da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" serves as a bookmark in art history, signaling the end of the tempera reign.
Advantages
Besides the jewel-like quality of tempera paintings, many have compared its benefits to those of water colors, colored pencils and pastels. Tempera paintings are drawn to a myriad of technique-specific qualities. For instance, as the detail-rich Islamic manuscripts might indicate, tempera paintings are ideal for precise work. There's an inherent textured ability within tempera paintings as well; this texturing is called the "tempera grassa," or fatty tempera. The luminosity of tempera paintings also make it an advantageous medium. In Renaissance Italy, many of the religious panels that were done on wood would appear luminously ethereal thanks to tempera.
Drawbacks
Yet, tempera painters had to overcome a number of uniquely challenging aspects of their art. First, there is the inability to create "impasto"--brushstrokes that can easily be hidden. This can be accomplished with oil paints, but is nearly impossible with tempera because of the paint's fatty thickness. Blending colors is another challenge that painters face because of the medium's thickness. Furthermore, it is difficult for colors to automatically "pop" in tempera paintings, again because of the thickness.
Revival
There was an American revival of tempera paintings from the 1930s into the 1950s. Scholars from major universities including Yale explored classical, Renaissance and Gothic painting styles. The Society of Tempera Painters would also reaffirm the value of tempera through artists including Ben Shahn, Andrew Wyeth, Mark Tobey, and Robert Vickery. Fresco artists like Jose Orozco and Diego Rivera also revived the technique with their larger-than-life murals.
