Oil Painting - History

Bamiyan, Afghanistan Cave Oil Painting from  Archaeology Magazine

The origins of oil painting is shrouded in time. Theories on where it began change with archeological finding, but can be contentious. Some sources report the medium dates from ancient antiquity when animal fats and pigment were combined  and applied to cave walls in Southern Europe.

Evidence uncovered in 2008 indicated that oil paint originated in the 7th century C.E. in Bamiyan, Afghanistan where Buddhist monks painted on cave walls. The medium then moved west into Europe.

However, the 16th century artist and art historian, Georgio Vasari credits Jan van Eyck (1395-1441) with the invention of oil paints. Jan van Eyck served the Burgundian Duke Philip the Good at a time when the Italian guilds were still only teaching tempera. We do know that two (2) famous paintings, the Ghent Alterpiece (1432) and the Arnolfini Portrait (1434), were both rendered in oil.

As you can see the use of egg tempera and oil paint overlapped. To further explore this point consider one of a handful of panels surviving by Michelangelo, the Manchester Madonna, currently in the National Gallery, London, which dates from 1497 and while it was not finished is egg tempera, a large portion of which is only underpainting.

Knowledge, like everything else, traveled along the trade routes. If knowledge and use of oil paints traveled from east to west one might assume that such knowledge would have traversed through Italy first. The Italian School and guilds maintained tempera as the principle medium to the end of the 1400s as evidenced by extant panels painted by Michelangelo. How then would Jan van Eyck, serving in Burgundy, produce finished oil paintings during the first half of the 15th century?

What can be assumed is that the scented oils added to disguise the scent of egg slowly replaced the distilled water and egg becoming the sole suspension product for the pigment. Benefits rendered from this exchange is the reduction of cracking in paintings and the dependence upon a rigid ground. As the renaissance flourished the demand for larger and larger paintings in the homes and palazzos of rich merchants, nobles and royalty drove the need for a flexible paint. Egg tempera dries quite quickly, but the drying time of oils gave artists time to consider the work. Finally, oils render with greater intensity and richer luminosity of color than other product.

Yours in Service to the Dream

Addison Carrick

Egg Tempera - Painting Process

Panel preparation should be completed first. As already mentioned, panels were usually wood. Extant examples of panels and altarpieces consist of alternating fabric and gesso layers. Restoration has disclosed some layers to be damask brocades. Layers are often polished/sanded to an ivory-like surface. This is a preferred finish for egg tempera.

Usually preparatory drawings or studies are done in advance. Once the panel is ready the drawing is rendered onto the panel. The preferred method of rendering is with metal point, typically silver point. This is because this method does not bleed or smear. Artists must be confident to use metal point as it is not erasable either.

Once the drawing is completed it is often outlined with ink. This strengthens the lines making painting easier. Because the artist must begin with powdered pigment and grind it into the medium it is important to take precaution. Two forms of exposure can occur during this preparation. First, inhalation can occur when working with powdered pigments. Secondly, pigments can be absorbed through the skin if one is clumsy when mixing paints. Filters can prevent or reduce inhalation dangers. Plastic gloves or liquid gloves can protect against absorption through the skin.

One suggestion for beginners is to make a pigment mud by simply adding water to the pigment. Other elements required for this medium is egg yolk and a few drops of oil. The yolk and white of a single egg must be separated. Next, the membrane of the yolk is lanced and the yolk itself drained. The membrane can then be discarded and the egg white used for a meal. The ratio of egg to water is critical as an imbalance will weaken the paint. As a general rule equal parts of pigment, egg and water. An aromatic oil is used to extend the viscosity of the paint and to cover the smell of egg. With religious icons often sacred oils are added, such as rosemary oil. All components are placed upon a glass palette and ground together with a muller.

Skin tone is usually first rendered in terre verte. This is a green tone pigment. Consecutive layers of skin tone are layered over this color sufficiently thin to allow the color to show from underneath.

 Not all pigments mix with water. Lead white for example beads water off. Vodka can be used to replace the water at the same ratio mentioned above.

Properly tempered paint will produce a dried paint surface that has a slight sheen when held at an angle to the light. This is a telltale way to determine proper handling of the paint medium.

Once the painting is finished it can be polished to a sheen using a scrap piece of silk. Testing this process between each painting session will ensure a proper mix. If the mix is wrong then a full sitting will be removed when attempting to polish the painting.

Tempera Materials and Preparation

Wood panels work best for egg tempera as flexible surfaces can allow cracking and chipping. Historically, wood panels were slow dried indigenous straight-grain wood. Resinous woods are unacceptable due to those resins.

Mermaid by Robert Addison Rubow,
egg tempera on wood panel

Plywood can be used, but works best if it is a high-grade cabinet plywood. Poor selection and preparation can cause the grain to be visible through the painting. This is not acceptable with this medium.

Hardboard can be used, though this modern product remains contentious in the artist community. Specifically, in question is the possible inclusion of oils in some productions. Oils could interfere with the adhesion of gesso to the surface. Presumably, and art panel intended for egg tempera would resolve this concern.

Like hardboard, canvas is considered undesirable. An unstable surface can lead to cracking and flaking of the finished work. Canvas is undesirable because of the flexibility of the surface. Is important to note that Botticelli’s “Birth of Venus” is tempera on canvas.

Heavy weight acid free paper can be used with egg tempera. The paper must be prepared much like a rigid panel using gesso. This does not resolve the concern of cracking in the final project.

For the best results any surface should be properly prepared. Traditionally, this is done with rabbit skin gesso. Acrylic gesso will inhibit proper adhesion of egg tempera due to the structure of the acrylic polymer and the way that product‘s moisture qualities in the product. This is especially true when working on paper.


Egg tempera must be applied to absorbent ground. As already stated acrylic gesso and egg tempera will not bind to produce a long lasting product. Though they may appear to bind in the short term. Acrylic also lacks the traditional ivory-like finish.


True gesso with it’s ivory-like substance is recommended by professional artists and sources. During the Italian renaissance native gypsum combined with a water-based animal glue. Rabbit hide glue is often used and can be found in a powdered form. But the making of the compound can smell, well, like a death house. Should you insist on using this product a well ventilated space as the smell will last for several

Paint of any kind is a combination of pigment, usually powdered, and a medium/binder. Using powdered pigments requires the additional care of a product that can be air borne or spilt easily. Take precautions to protect your respiratory system and any animals or children from spilt product. Neanderthal combined pigment and spit to decorate cave walls and the Egyptians combined pigment and glue to bind the color to the carved stone and plaster surfaces in temples and crypts. Both of these are forms of tempera paint.

Ancient Greek and Roman paintings survive as wall murals with no confirmed panel paintings from the Greek epic and only a few from ancient Rome. Several portraits from the 1st century BCE to 4th century AD show brush work that implies tempera. A handful of these portraits are classified with the Fayum portraits dating from the late Roman era, the region known as Fayum lies south of Cairo and west of the Nile. The largest majority of the Fayum portraits are created using "encaustic" paints and that is a topic for another day. Theophrastus de Lapidibus (4th century BC) wrote a treatise on rocks and minerals used for paint, but covered binders only minimally. At some point egg yolk (absent even the membrane) was added to the product to facilitate binding. Vitruvius (1st century BC) discusses three methods of painting; fresco, encaustic and a third that may be tempera. Pliny (1st century AD) mentions the Romans being familiar with painting with egg yolk.

Koo Schadler; a modern artist, teacher, promoter of egg tempera, reports that the earliest reliably identifiable egg tempera painting is a portrait in the Petrie Museum in London from the 4th century AD. While fresco and murals were popular, during the Middle Ages artists has a need for greater portability and panel paintings became the norm. Egg tempera requires a rigid surface to prevent cracking or shattering. Egg tempera suited this trend and became the primary medium for the Byzantine and Early Cristian iconographers. NOTE: icons are very specific in development, design and creation. Just because it is a painting of a religious figure does not mean it is an icon unless the intent is there. Egg tempera was also used in illuminated manuscripts, though other paint and medium were used on paper as well.

By the Early 1400s, egg tempera was dominant in Italy. Between 1400-1450 the Italian guilds continued to teach egg tempera methods and techniques. Giorgio Visari, 16th century art historian, credits Van Eyck with the development of oil paints. But, the exact dates and details on transition to oil paints is controversial for many reasons. Many artists used egg tempera for underpaintings or used the two products in combination. The Mancester Madonna by Michelangelo Buonarroti Simoni has a tempera underpainting. What can be said with certainty is that the two mediums co-existed for may years.