{"id":156246,"date":"2023-04-21T23:41:11","date_gmt":"2023-04-21T23:41:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/culture.org\/?p=156246"},"modified":"2023-04-21T23:41:11","modified_gmt":"2023-04-21T23:41:11","slug":"renaissance-painters-egg-infused-oil-paint-secrets-revealed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/culture.org\/art-and-culture\/renaissance-painters-egg-infused-oil-paint-secrets-revealed\/","title":{"rendered":"Renaissance Painters&#8217; Egg-Infused Oil Paint Secrets Revealed"},"content":{"rendered":"           <!--  <script type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n                jQuery(document).ready(function() {\r\n                    jQuery(\".key-accordion-item .key-menu\").on(\"click\", function() {\r\n                        if (jQuery(this).parent().hasClass(\"active\")) {\r\n                            jQuery(this).next().slideUp();\r\n                            jQuery(this).parent().removeClass(\"active\");\r\n                        } else {\r\n                            jQuery(\".key-content\").slideUp();\r\n                            jQuery(\".key-accordion-item\").removeClass(\"active\");\r\n                            jQuery(this).parent().addClass(\"active\");\r\n                            jQuery(this).next().slideDown();\r\n                        }\r\n                    });\r\n                })\r\n            <\/script> -->\r\n\r\n\r\n            <!-- start html -->\r\n\r\n            <div class=\"news-key-takeaway-wapper\">\r\n                                <span style=\"background-color:#4db2ee;\">Key Takeaways<\/span>\r\n                <ul class=\"news-key-nbox\" style=\"border-color:#4db2ee;background-color:rgba(77, 178, 238, 0.1);\">\r\n                                                        <li>Renaissance artists such as Leonardo da Vinci and Sandro Botticelli may have added egg yolk to their oil paints to protect the artworks from humidity, prevent wrinkling, and slow down yellowing.<\/li>\r\n                                                                    <li>In a recent study published in Nature Communications, researchers created two oil-egg recipes to compare with plain oil paint and found that the yolk's proteins, phospholipids, and antioxidants slowed paint oxidation and created sturdier links between pigment particles, resulting in stiffer paint that was ideal for techniques like impasto.<\/li>\r\n                                                                    <li>Egg-infused oil paint can take longer to dry, but the egg proteins can also suppress the water absorbed in the paint in humid environments, helping prevent yellowing and wrinkling.<\/li>\r\n                                                                    <li>Understanding how historical artists selected and manipulated their materials can aid in art preservation efforts and help people gain a deeper understanding of the creative process and the final product.<\/li>\r\n                                                <\/ul>\r\n            <\/div>\r\n            \n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Renaissance artists, such as Leonardo da Vinci and Sandro Botticelli, may have added egg yolk to their oil paints to protect the artworks from humidity, prevent wrinkling, and slow down yellowing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The discovery, reported in a study published in Nature Communications, provides valuable insights into the science behind the paintings and could help improve the preservation of invaluable artworks.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>The Impact of Egg Yolk on Paint<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Artists experimented with oil-based paints around the turn of the 15th century in Italy, when oil-based paints replaced egg-based tempera paints.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It has been unclear how adding egg yolk to oil paints affected the paintings. In a lab, researchers from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany and the Doerner Institut created two oil-egg recipes to compare with plain oil paint.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One mixture contained fresh egg yolk mixed into oil paint, while the other had pigment ground into the yolk, dried, and mixed with oil.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Slowing Oxidation and Enhancing Texture<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The scientists found that the yolk&#8217;s proteins, phospholipids, and antioxidants slowed paint oxidation, which can cause paint to turn yellow over time.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the mayonnaise-like blend, the yolk created sturdy links between pigment particles, resulting in stiffer paint.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This consistency was ideal for techniques like impasto, a raised, thick style that adds texture to art.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Egg additions could also reduce wrinkling by creating a firmer paint consistency.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>                        <!-- <div class=\"container-c\"> -->\r\n                        <!-- <div class=\"row justify-content-between\"> -->\r\n                        <!-- <div class=\"col-post-800\"> -->\r\n                        <!-- start html -->\r\n                        <div class=\"blockquote-wapper\">\r\n                            <div>\r\n                                <span class=\"text_quot\">\r\n                                    <p>Ken Sutherland, director of scientific research at the Art Institute of Chicago, who was not involved in the study, stated that research on historical art mediums can not only aid art preservation efforts but also help people gain a deeper understanding of the artworks themselves.<\/p>\n                                <\/span>\r\n\r\n                                <div class=\"quot_icon\">\r\n                                    <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-content\/themes\/culture\/icons\/i_quot.svg\" type=\"image\/svg+xml\">\r\n                                <\/div>\r\n                            <\/div>\r\n\r\n                            <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"quot_tick\" src=\"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-content\/themes\/culture\/icons\/i_quot_tri.svg\" type=\"image\/svg+xml\">\r\n                        <\/div>\r\n                        <!-- end html -->\r\n                        <!-- <\/div> -->\r\n                        <!-- <\/div> -->\r\n                        <!-- <\/div> -->\r\n                                    <\/h2>\n<h2><strong>Drawbacks and Benefits of Egg-Infused Oil Paint<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, the egg-infused oil paint can take longer to dry, which would have forced Renaissance artists to wait longer to add the next layer.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The researchers also found that the egg proteins suppressed the water absorbed in the paint in humid environments, helping prevent yellowing and wrinkling.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These findings suggest that the Old Master artists were likely aware of the benefits of adding egg yolk to their oil paints, even if they didn&#8217;t know the chemical and physical explanations behind the technique.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Implications for Art Preservation and Understanding<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ken Sutherland, director of scientific research at the Art Institute of Chicago, who was not involved in the study, stated that research on historical art mediums can not only aid art preservation efforts but also help people gain a deeper understanding of the artworks themselves.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The more scientists understand how artists selected and manipulated their materials, the more they can appreciate the creative process and the final product.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":156247,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[410],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-156246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art-and-culture"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156246"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=156246"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156246\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/156247"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=156246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=156246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=156246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}