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.