It pays to go to work on an egg when painting with oils, researchers have found, as the addition of yolk can prevent wrinkling, yellowing and problems

Scientists gain insights into Old Master artists’ use of egg in oil paintings

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2023-03-29 21:30:05

It pays to go to work on an egg when painting with oils, researchers have found, as the addition of yolk can prevent wrinkling, yellowing and problems with humidity.

The use of egg as a binding medium for pigments, a form of paint known as egg tempera, has a long history, turning up in works including the mural paintings of the Palace of Nestor in Pylos, dating to 1200BC.

But in the 15th century there was a shift in European paintings towards using oil as a binder instead – an approach favoured by early Netherlandish painters such as Jan van Eyck.

Despite the shift, egg has been found in the works of Old Master artists such as Sandro Botticelli and Leonardo da Vinci – with the former’s Lamentation over the Dead Christ among those featuring the use of egg within oil paint.

Now scientists say they have new insights into why such artists might have added the ingredient to their oil paints. “[The] egg is used for modification and fine-tuning of paint properties,” said Dr Patrick Dietemann of the Doerner Institut in Germany.

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