Cennini recommends town eggs for “ maidens and young children ,” and dismisses country eggs as only good for “ swarthy old gentlemen and corpses .”
In early Renaissance Italy , the most popular binder was the yolk of a hen ’ s egg . It dries quickly but takes a while to harden . Once it does , it doesn ’ t come off easily , as anyone who has tried to scrape day-old egg yolk from a plate can attest . Commercially produced egg tempera paints in tubes are available today , but most painters prefer to make their own paints , the way Cennino Cennini recommended in his early 15th century handbook “ Il Libro dell ’ Arte .” To begin with , one breaks an egg , separates the yolk from the white , then pierces the membrane around the yolk and pours the yellow emulsion into a vessel . The skin of the yolk , which is useless to the painter , is discarded . According to experts , fresh eggs are best , because the fluid yolk separates cleanly from the membrane . Cennini recommends town eggs for “ maidens and young children ,” and dismisses country eggs as only good for “ swarthy old gentlemen and corpses .”
One adds a little water , up to the same amount as the yolk , and stirs well ( today ’ s artists recommend distilled water , to prevent contamination ). Some painters add a little vinegar at this point , to stabilize the yolk . Some use a lot of vinegar and only a little water . It ’ s all a matter of personal preference . The next step is to place some powdered pigment — the amount depends on how much the artist expects to need in the next few hours — onto a flat slab of glass or polished marble . One mixes the powder with a little of the egg-yolk solution , to end up with a fluid of a desirable consistency and puts the fluid in a small vessel or welled palette .
Unlike oil , acrylic , or watercolor , egg tempera does not lend itself well to subtle interchanges of values on a flat palette . The conventional approach is to apply flat pigments one value at a time . To paint drapery , for example , Cennini advises the artist to prepare three or four vessels
Stan Miller , “ South Spokane Evening Light ,” 2021 ( Image provided courtesy of the artist )
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