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Creating + Conserving

  • Browse this content
  • What is conservation?
    • Art Conservation Behind the Scenes
    • What does a conservator do?
    • Tools of the Trade
    • Scientific research glossary of terms
    • Conservation glossary of terms
  • The conservator’s eye
    • The conservator’s eye: Marble statue of a wounded warrior
    • The conservator’s eye: Taddeo Gaddi, Saint Julian
    • The conservator’s eye: a stained glass Adoration of the Magi
    • The conservator’s eye: Rembrandt, Aristotle with a Bust of Homer
    • The conservator’s eye: Madame Cézanne in the Conservatory
    • The conservator’s eye: Anselm Kiefer, Bohemia Lies by the Sea
  • Painting
    • Materials and techniques
      • Browse this content
      • Tempera paint
      • Oil paint in Venice
      • Renaissance Watercolours: materials and techniques
      • Gold-ground panel painting
      • How to stretch a large canvas
      • Almost Invisible: The Cartoon Transfer Process
      • Investigating Rothko’s Technique
    • About color
      • Browse this content
      • Making Purple: The Science of Art
      • Making Green: Tempera versus Oil
      • The Alchemy of Color and Chemical Change in Medieval Manuscripts
    • How to paint like…
      • Browse this content
      • How to paint like Willem de Kooning
      • How to paint like Franz Kline
      • How to paint like Yayoi Kusama
      • How to paint like Agnes Martin
      • How to paint like Jackson Pollock
      • How to paint like Barnett Newman
      • How to paint like Ad Reinhardt
      • How to paint like Mark Rothko
    • Art terms in action
      • Browse this content
      • Art Terms in Action: Paint
      • Art Terms in Action: Turpentine Burn
      • Art Terms in Action: Palette Knife
      • Art Terms in Action: Tint, Shade, and Tone
      • Art Terms in Action: Emulsion
      • Art Terms in Action: Enamel
      • Art Terms in Action: Stain
      • Art Terms in Action: Viscosity
    • Conserving
      • Remaking a fourteenth-century triptych
      • Conservation of paintings
      • Conservation: portrait miniatures
      • Ghent Altarpiece project overview
      • Conserving a portrait of King Edward VI
      • Jan Gossart – Conservation Discoveries
      • Conserving Velázquez’s Portrait of Philip IV
      • Conserving Flowers in a Glass Vase
      • Michael Gallagher on Everhard Jabach and His Family
      • Conserving the Virgin of Guadalupe
      • Conserving Vincent van Gogh’s Field with Irises near Arles
      • Van Gogh’s Enclosed Field with Ploughman under raking light
      • The Science of Van Gogh’s Bedrooms
      • Restoring Rothko
      • Conserving Flowers in a Glass Vase
      • Conserving Cuzco School Paintings
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      • Carving Marble with Traditional Tools
      • Quarrying and carving marble
      • Medieval goldsmiths – Treasures of Heaven at the British Museum
      • Making a Spanish polychrome sculpture
      • Bronze casting using the lost-wax technique
      • Bronze casting using the direct lost-wax method
      • Working jade
    • Conserving
      • The Conservation of Tullio Lombardo’s Adam
      • Object Conservation – Salisbury Cross
      • Conservation: Cast of the Pórtico de la Gloria
      • Contemporary Art Conservation at Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum
      • Conservation: The Nasrid plasterwork collection at the V&A
      • Conservation: Tipu’s Tiger
      • Conserving The Wolsey Angels
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    • Printmaking
      • Browse this content
      • Introduction to printmaking
      • Introduction to relief printmaking
      • Relief process
      • Introduction to intaglio
      • Intaglio process
      • Lithography process
      • Introduction to lithography
    • Making and conserving manuscripts and drawings
      • Making manuscripts
      • Renaissance Watercolours: materials and techniques
      • Drawing with Charcoal: Historical Techniques of 19th-Century France
      • Science and Paper: Conserving a Drypoint by Michael Heizer
      • Conserving Old Master Drawings
      • Henri Matisse: Conserving The Swimming Pool
  • Photographs
    • Making
      • Browse this content
      • Before photography (1 of 12)
      • The Daguerreotype (2 of 12)
      • Talbot’s Processes (3 of 12)
      • The Cyanotype (4 of 12)
      • The Collodion process
      • The Albumen Print (6 of 12)
      • The Platinum Print (7 of 12)
      • The Pigment Processes (8 of 12)
      • The Woodburytype (9 of 12)
      • The Gelatin Silver Process (10 of 12)
      • Color Photography (11 of 12)
      • Digital Photography (12 of 12)
  • Ceramic and lacquer
    • Making
      • What is ceramic art?
      • Greek Vase-Painting, an introduction
      • Ancient Greek vase production and the black-figure technique
      • Making Greek vases
    • Conserving
      • Conservation: Korean lacquer
  • Mosaic, metalwork and glass
    • Making
      • Glassmaking technique: free-blown glass
      • Mold-blown Glass
      • Ancient and Byzantine Mosaic Materials
      • Medieval Goldsmiths
      • Enamelling
      • The Electrotyping Process
      • How were micromosaics made?
  • Textiles
    • Making
      • The art of making a tapestry
    • Conserving
      • William Morris, The Bullerswood Carpet
      • Conserving the Emperor’s Carpet
      • Conservation of the Ardabil Carpet: the oldest dated carpet in the world
      • Conservation: Indian jama
  • Frames
    • Choosing
      • Framing Christina’s World by Andrew Wyeth
    • Conserving
      • Behind the scenes of the framing department at The National Gallery, London
      • Van Dyck’s Self-portrait: The Frame and its Conservation
  • Architecture
    • Conserving
      • Kasbah Taourirt: Conserving Earthen Heritage in Morocco
  • Conservation Reel archive
    • What is conservation?
      • Lab Tour: Conservation Science
      • IMA Conservation: Examining a Work
      • IMA Conservation: The Oddy Test
      • IMA Conservation: Documentation Imaging
      • IMA Conservation: 5 Questions with Richard McCoy
      • IMA Conservation: 5 Questions with Linda Witkowski
      • IMA Conservation: 5 Questions with Kristen Adsit
      • IMA Conservation: 5 Questions with Gregory Smith
      • IMA Conservation: 5 Questions with David Miller
      • IMA Conservation: 5 Questions with Amanda Holden
      • IMA Conservation: 5 Questions with Aaron Steele
    • Manuscripts and works on paper
      • How to Examine a Work on Paper
      • Wrapping Paper Objects for Hand Transport
    • Painting
      • Conservation Notes: Tom Thomson’s The West Wind
      • Finding the Lost Crucifix in a Perugino Panel Painting
      • Finding the Original Context of Rosselli’s Kneeling Angel
      • Examining a Panel Painting
      • IMA Conservation: Cleaning a Painting
      • IMA Conservation: Pigment Analysis with XRF Spectrometry
      • What X-Rays of a Vivarini Reveal About Its Past
      • Examining a Veronese with XRF Spectrometry
      • Sebastiano Mainardi: The Science of Art Installation, Behind the Scenes
    • Sculpture + installation
      • Lab Tour: Objects and Variable Art
      • Preserving Art: Tara Donovan’s Untitled (Plastic Cups)
      • Tara Donovan’s Untitled (Mylar)
      • Artist Max Dean on the conservation of As Yet Untitled
      • Talking Chaos with Roland Wetzel
      • A Conversation with Robert Irwin on Light and Space III
      • IMA Conservation: The Lightbulbs in Light and Space III
      • Evidence of Lost Wax Casting
    • Textiles
      • IMA Conservation: Preparing a Mola Garment for Display
      • IMA Conservation: Preparing Mola Textiles for Display
    • Frames
      • Examining a 17th-century frame
    • Architecture
      • The Making of the Bartholomew County Veterans Memorial
      • Modern Architecture as Heritage
    • Talks + symposia
      • Innovative Approaches to Conservation
      • Conservation Data and Digital Asset Management
      • Moving Responsibilities: The Care of Performance-Based Sculpture
      • The Invention of Glory: A Symposium
      • The Plus/Minus Dilemma: The Way Forward in Environmental Guidelines

Creating + Conserving

  • Browse this content
  • What is conservation?
    • Art Conservation Behind the Scenes
    • What does a conservator do?
    • Tools of the Trade
    • Scientific research glossary of terms
    • Conservation glossary of terms
  • The conservator’s eye
    • The conservator’s eye: Marble statue of a wounded warrior
    • The conservator’s eye: Taddeo Gaddi, Saint Julian
    • The conservator’s eye: a stained glass Adoration of the Magi
    • The conservator’s eye: Rembrandt, Aristotle with a Bust of Homer
    • The conservator’s eye: Madame Cézanne in the Conservatory
    • The conservator’s eye: Anselm Kiefer, Bohemia Lies by the Sea
  • Painting
    • Materials and techniques
      • Browse this content
      • Tempera paint
      • Oil paint in Venice
      • Renaissance Watercolours: materials and techniques
      • Gold-ground panel painting
      • How to stretch a large canvas
      • Almost Invisible: The Cartoon Transfer Process
      • Investigating Rothko’s Technique
    • About color
      • Browse this content
      • Making Purple: The Science of Art
      • Making Green: Tempera versus Oil
      • The Alchemy of Color and Chemical Change in Medieval Manuscripts
    • How to paint like…
      • Browse this content
      • How to paint like Willem de Kooning
      • How to paint like Franz Kline
      • How to paint like Yayoi Kusama
      • How to paint like Agnes Martin
      • How to paint like Jackson Pollock
      • How to paint like Barnett Newman
      • How to paint like Ad Reinhardt
      • How to paint like Mark Rothko
    • Art terms in action
      • Browse this content
      • Art Terms in Action: Paint
      • Art Terms in Action: Turpentine Burn
      • Art Terms in Action: Palette Knife
      • Art Terms in Action: Tint, Shade, and Tone
      • Art Terms in Action: Emulsion
      • Art Terms in Action: Enamel
      • Art Terms in Action: Stain
      • Art Terms in Action: Viscosity
    • Conserving
      • Remaking a fourteenth-century triptych
      • Conservation of paintings
      • Conservation: portrait miniatures
      • Ghent Altarpiece project overview
      • Conserving a portrait of King Edward VI
      • Jan Gossart – Conservation Discoveries
      • Conserving Velázquez’s Portrait of Philip IV
      • Conserving Flowers in a Glass Vase
      • Michael Gallagher on Everhard Jabach and His Family
      • Conserving the Virgin of Guadalupe
      • Conserving Vincent van Gogh’s Field with Irises near Arles
      • Van Gogh’s Enclosed Field with Ploughman under raking light
      • The Science of Van Gogh’s Bedrooms
      • Restoring Rothko
      • Conserving Flowers in a Glass Vase
      • Conserving Cuzco School Paintings
  • Sculpture
    • Making
      • Carving Marble with Traditional Tools
      • Quarrying and carving marble
      • Medieval goldsmiths – Treasures of Heaven at the British Museum
      • Making a Spanish polychrome sculpture
      • Bronze casting using the lost-wax technique
      • Bronze casting using the direct lost-wax method
      • Working jade
    • Conserving
      • The Conservation of Tullio Lombardo’s Adam
      • Object Conservation – Salisbury Cross
      • Conservation: Cast of the Pórtico de la Gloria
      • Contemporary Art Conservation at Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum
      • Conservation: The Nasrid plasterwork collection at the V&A
      • Conservation: Tipu’s Tiger
      • Conserving The Wolsey Angels
  • Prints, drawings, and manuscripts
    • Printmaking
      • Browse this content
      • Introduction to printmaking
      • Introduction to relief printmaking
      • Relief process
      • Introduction to intaglio
      • Intaglio process
      • Lithography process
      • Introduction to lithography
    • Making and conserving manuscripts and drawings
      • Making manuscripts
      • Renaissance Watercolours: materials and techniques
      • Drawing with Charcoal: Historical Techniques of 19th-Century France
      • Science and Paper: Conserving a Drypoint by Michael Heizer
      • Conserving Old Master Drawings
      • Henri Matisse: Conserving The Swimming Pool
  • Photographs
    • Making
      • Browse this content
      • Before photography (1 of 12)
      • The Daguerreotype (2 of 12)
      • Talbot’s Processes (3 of 12)
      • The Cyanotype (4 of 12)
      • The Collodion process
      • The Albumen Print (6 of 12)
      • The Platinum Print (7 of 12)
      • The Pigment Processes (8 of 12)
      • The Woodburytype (9 of 12)
      • The Gelatin Silver Process (10 of 12)
      • Color Photography (11 of 12)
      • Digital Photography (12 of 12)
  • Ceramic and lacquer
    • Making
      • What is ceramic art?
      • Greek Vase-Painting, an introduction
      • Ancient Greek vase production and the black-figure technique
      • Making Greek vases
    • Conserving
      • Conservation: Korean lacquer
  • Mosaic, metalwork and glass
    • Making
      • Glassmaking technique: free-blown glass
      • Mold-blown Glass
      • Ancient and Byzantine Mosaic Materials
      • Medieval Goldsmiths
      • Enamelling
      • The Electrotyping Process
      • How were micromosaics made?
  • Textiles
    • Making
      • The art of making a tapestry
    • Conserving
      • William Morris, The Bullerswood Carpet
      • Conserving the Emperor’s Carpet
      • Conservation of the Ardabil Carpet: the oldest dated carpet in the world
      • Conservation: Indian jama
  • Frames
    • Choosing
      • Framing Christina’s World by Andrew Wyeth
    • Conserving
      • Behind the scenes of the framing department at The National Gallery, London
      • Van Dyck’s Self-portrait: The Frame and its Conservation
  • Architecture
    • Conserving
      • Kasbah Taourirt: Conserving Earthen Heritage in Morocco
  • Conservation Reel archive
    • What is conservation?
      • Lab Tour: Conservation Science
      • IMA Conservation: Examining a Work
      • IMA Conservation: The Oddy Test
      • IMA Conservation: Documentation Imaging
      • IMA Conservation: 5 Questions with Richard McCoy
      • IMA Conservation: 5 Questions with Linda Witkowski
      • IMA Conservation: 5 Questions with Kristen Adsit
      • IMA Conservation: 5 Questions with Gregory Smith
      • IMA Conservation: 5 Questions with David Miller
      • IMA Conservation: 5 Questions with Amanda Holden
      • IMA Conservation: 5 Questions with Aaron Steele
    • Manuscripts and works on paper
      • How to Examine a Work on Paper
      • Wrapping Paper Objects for Hand Transport
    • Painting
      • Conservation Notes: Tom Thomson’s The West Wind
      • Finding the Lost Crucifix in a Perugino Panel Painting
      • Finding the Original Context of Rosselli’s Kneeling Angel
      • Examining a Panel Painting
      • IMA Conservation: Cleaning a Painting
      • IMA Conservation: Pigment Analysis with XRF Spectrometry
      • What X-Rays of a Vivarini Reveal About Its Past
      • Examining a Veronese with XRF Spectrometry
      • Sebastiano Mainardi: The Science of Art Installation, Behind the Scenes
    • Sculpture + installation
      • Lab Tour: Objects and Variable Art
      • Preserving Art: Tara Donovan’s Untitled (Plastic Cups)
      • Tara Donovan’s Untitled (Mylar)
      • Artist Max Dean on the conservation of As Yet Untitled
      • Talking Chaos with Roland Wetzel
      • A Conversation with Robert Irwin on Light and Space III
      • IMA Conservation: The Lightbulbs in Light and Space III
      • Evidence of Lost Wax Casting
    • Textiles
      • IMA Conservation: Preparing a Mola Garment for Display
      • IMA Conservation: Preparing Mola Textiles for Display
    • Frames
      • Examining a 17th-century frame
    • Architecture
      • The Making of the Bartholomew County Veterans Memorial
      • Modern Architecture as Heritage
    • Talks + symposia
      • Innovative Approaches to Conservation
      • Conservation Data and Digital Asset Management
      • Moving Responsibilities: The Care of Performance-Based Sculpture
      • The Invention of Glory: A Symposium
      • The Plus/Minus Dilemma: The Way Forward in Environmental Guidelines

Tempera paint

by Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker

 

Smarthistory images for teaching and learning:
Giotto, The Entombment of Mary, detail with MaryGiotto, The Entombment of Mary, detail with conversing angelsGiotto, St. Francis of Assisi Receiving the Stigmata, c. 1295-1300Giotto, St. Francis of Assisi Receiving the Stigmata, c. 1295-1300 with detail of Francis's face and handsGiotto, St. Francis of Assisi Receiving the Stigmata, c. 1295-1300 with ViewersFra Fillippo Lippi, Portrait of a Man and Woman at a Casement detail with faces

More Smarthistory images…

Cite this page as: Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker, "Tempera paint," in Smarthistory, November 25, 2015, accessed September 27, 2023, https://smarthistory.org/tempera-paint/.
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October 18, 1:00–1:30 pm ET

"Not your grandfather’s art history: a BIPOC Reader" is a free, digital art history resource that provides more than 20 essays that seek to re-route the traditional narratives of art history with Europe and whiteness at its center. Join Dr. Maya Harakawa for this teaching webinar.

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