Free and open educational resources for Afghanistan

Before the invention of oil paint in the European Renaissance, artists created paintings with powdered,colored pigments mixed with egg yolk as binding agent. We call this egg tempera paint. The Ethiopian Diptych with Mary and Her Son, and Apostles, and Saints George and Theodore was painted with this type of tempera paint. Medieval artists ground stones and minerals into powder to create different colors. In this activity you’ll make egg tempera paint in much the same way that medieval artists did, using powdered pigments instead of grinding your own minerals.