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Excellent work! ‘Old Master’ artists, including Botticelli and da Vinci, used EIDERIJEN to protect their paintings from moisture and prevent them from wrinkling and yellowing, study finds
- Sandro Botticelli and Leonardo da Vinci added egg yolk to their oil paintings
- Experts studied the effects of adding these proteins to oil paint
- Technique helped overcome problems with moisture, wrinkles and yellowing
Whether poached, scrambled or fried, everyone has their favorite way to prepare eggs.
But some of the world’s most famous artists took advantage of them in a different way — by adding them to paint, a study suggests.
People like Sandro Botticelli and Leonardo da Vinci, otherwise known as “Old Master” artists, may have added protein to their oil paintings to help with problems with moisture, wrinkles and yellowing of the surface, researchers have found.
And while the presence of egg whites in their masterpieces – which date back more than 500 years – has been discovered before, the reason why they added the unusual ingredient has remained unknown.
A team led by scientists from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany investigated the effects of adding protein in the form of egg yolk to oil paint.
People like Sandro Botticelli and Leonardo da Vinci, otherwise known as “Old Master” artists, may have added protein to their oil paintings to help with problems with moisture, wrinkles and yellowing of the surface, researchers have found. Pictured: Sandro Botticelli’s masterpiece, The Lamentation of Christ
Although the presence of egg whites in their masterpieces – which are over 500 years old – has been discovered before, the reason why they added the unusual ingredient has remained unknown. Pictured: Madonna of the Carnation by Leonardo da Vinci
They discovered that the uptake of water from humid environments can be suppressed when the egg proteins form a thin layer around the paint pigment particles.
Adding egg yolk was also found to give stiff paints with strong impasto – allowing it to be applied thickly – and preventing surface creasing as it dried.
Antioxidants in the yolk also helped prevent the paint from turning yellow as it dried by slowing down the reaction between oxygen and oil.
The team said their findings help us understand why these artists added proteins, such as egg yolks, to their oil paintings.
Examples of this technique being used include Botticelli’s ‘Lamentation over the dead Christ’, in which Christ’s face and feet show signs of a build-up of egg layers.
In the journal Nature Communications, the researchers write: ‘Traditional old master oil paints are usually assumed to contain only oil as a binder, possibly with various additions of certain resins.
‘However, proteins have also been found in oil paint by Sandro Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci and other Italian Renaissance masters.
‘What was the role of these proteins, how and why were they introduced into oils?
The flesh, details of the head of Christ show the typical egg tempera layering and paint application by hatching in Botticelli’s Lamentation of Christ
Details of St. John’s feet show typical egg tempera layering and paint application by hatching. The grass foreground, on the other hand, shows typical properties of oil paint
‘The technical knowledge of the old masters, how to prepare paint, was initially passed on in workshops, but has been lost today.
‘We investigated oil paint with a small amount of egg yolk added to better understand the paintings of the old masters and their techniques.’
They conclude that they were able to show how these artists used egg whites – such as egg yolks – to “overcome unexpected moisture problems and produce paint layers that are resistant to creasing and oxidative degradation, so that we can still admire their masterpieces today. ‘
The researchers also said their findings could help preserve and preserve some Old Master artworks today.