Egg Tempera trivia

Egg Tempera Mini Quiz

Test your knowledge with these top questions!

Question 1

Egg tempera paint requires artists to mix dry color pigments with what specific organic binder?

Egg yolk contains a natural emulsion of water and lipids, creating a durable binder, whereas egg whites would dry too brittle and flake off.

Question 2

Artists apply egg tempera to rigid wood panels instead of flexible canvas to prevent what issue?

Once dry, egg tempera forms a stiff, inflexible film. If applied to a flexible canvas, the fabric's natural movement would cause the brittle paint layers to snap.

Question 3

Because egg tempera dries almost instantly, painters use what technique to blend different colors?

Instead of physically mixing wet layers, artists overlap thousands of fine, hatched strokes to create the optical illusion of seamlessly blended shadows and hues.

Question 4

Compared to oil paints that often yellow over time, egg tempera offers what long-term advantage?

Unlike oil binders that oxidize and darken over the centuries, egg yolk proteins remain highly stable. This allows medieval panels to look remarkably bright today.