Egg tempera is paint made from powdered pigments mixed with egg yolk. That’s it. It’s been the standard medium for writing icons for over a thousand years, and it’s still what most traditional iconographers use today.
The recipe is simple. You separate an egg yolk from the white, carefully remove the membrane, and mix the yolk with a bit of water or white wine. Then you grind your pigments and blend them into this egg mixture. The result is a fast-drying paint that goes on in thin, translucent layers. It doesn’t blend the way oil paint does. Instead, you build up color slowly, working from dark to light, layer after layer.
This matters because icons aren’t supposed to look like photographs. They’re windows into heaven. The way egg tempera works fits that theology perfectly.
Why Egg?
There’s something fitting about using eggs to write icons. Life comes from an egg. The iconographer takes this humble, created thing and uses it to depict saints who’ve been transfigured by grace. Some Orthodox writers see symbolism there, though the practical reasons are just as important.
Egg tempera is permanent. Icons painted six centuries ago still have vivid colors because the egg creates a chemical bond with the pigment that doesn’t break down. It dries to a hard, matte surface that can be cleaned and conserved. And because you apply it in thin glazes, light seems to come from within the image rather than sitting on top of it. That inner glow isn’t an accident. It’s how you show that the person depicted isn’t lit by ordinary sunlight but by the uncreated light of God.
You can’t use egg tempera on canvas. It requires a rigid wooden panel prepared with multiple layers of gesso, which is rabbit-skin glue mixed with chalk. The gesso gets sanded smooth until it’s almost like ivory. Then the iconographer transfers the drawing, applies gold leaf where needed, and begins painting. First comes the dark underpainting. Then the middle tones. Then careful highlights built up stroke by stroke. The whole process can take weeks.
It’s slow work, and that’s part of the point.
Not Just Technique
Icon painting isn’t fine art in the modern sense. Nobody signs their icons. There are no artistic breakthroughs or personal styles to celebrate. You’re working within a tradition that goes back to the apostles, following patterns that have been tested and approved by the Church. The materials matter because everything in an icon is meant to point beyond itself.
Wood, gesso, egg, mineral pigments, gold leaf. All created things. All used to make something that helps us pray, that makes present the person depicted. When you venerate an icon of Christ, you’re not venerating paint and wood. You’re venerating Christ himself. The Seventh Ecumenical Council settled that in 787, and it’s why iconographers take their materials seriously. This isn’t just craft. It’s theology you can see.
Egg tempera supports that theology in ways other media don’t. Its translucency lets you layer colors to create depth without tricks of perspective. Its matte finish doesn’t create distracting reflections. Its permanence means the icon can serve the Church for generations. And its difficulty, honestly, keeps the work prayerful. You can’t rush tempera. You have to wait between layers. You have to pay attention.
What This Means for You
If you’ve never seen an icon being written, it’s worth watching sometime. St. Michael’s occasionally hosts iconography workshops, and there are iconographers in Houston who teach the traditional methods. Seeing someone mix pigment with egg yolk and then watch it transform into the face of a saint, that’s something. It connects you to a practice that hasn’t changed much since St. Luke painted the Theotokos.
You don’t need to become an iconographer to appreciate what egg tempera does. But next time you venerate an icon, look closely at the layers of color in the face, the way light seems to come from inside the image, the matte surface that doesn’t glare under the candles. That’s egg tempera doing what it’s done for centuries. Simple materials, ancient technique, and a window into heaven.
