Tempera

How it is used

Used for medieval and early Renaissance altarpieces and for Byzantine and Orthodox icons, usually on wooden panels prepared with gesso. Labels say ‘tempera on panel’ or ‘egg tempera and gold leaf on wood’. It cannot be blended easily, so it is applied in thin, hatched strokes.

Example sentences

1. Botticelli painted The Birth of Venus in tempera on canvas, which was unusual at the time.

2. The icon is painted in egg tempera on a wooden panel with a gold leaf background.

Common collocations

• egg tempera
• tempera on panel
• tempera and gold leaf
• tempera painting

Related terms

• oil paintPaint made by mixing pigments with a drying oil, usually linseed oil; it dries slowly, so artists can blend colours and build up layers.
• pigmentA coloured powder, made from minerals, plants, insects or chemicals, that gives paint its colour when it is mixed with a binder such as oil, egg or gum.
• frescoA way of painting walls or ceilings with water-based pigments on fresh, wet lime plaster, so the colours become part of the wall as it dries; also a painting made like this.
• triptychAn artwork made of three panels placed side by side, often hinged so that the two outer panels can fold over the central one; typical of medieval and Renaissance altarpieces.
• GothicBelonging to the style of European art and architecture from about the twelfth to the fifteenth century, known for cathedrals with pointed arches, tall windows and stained glass.

More terms: Materials & Techniques

• canvas
• watercolour
• medium
• acrylic paint
• charcoal
• printmaking
• mixed media
• mosaic