molrose96 OP t1_je9dbvn wrote on March 30, 2023 at 11:18 AM

Here's the Nature Communications paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-36859-5

newsreadhjw t1_jeb0cpa wrote on March 30, 2023 at 6:29 PM

I’m a little surprised the way this is written as if it’s some kind of discovery that egg protein was found in paint. Painters have been using egg tempera technique for a really long time. I’m no art expert but I did catch an Andrew Wyeth exhibit once and I remember they talked about this a lot. I thought it was well understood how this worked.

alienbaconhybrid t1_jedk4mb wrote on March 31, 2023 at 6:12 AM

Yeah, I read the original study which is about how they added egg to their oil paints. Egg tempera involves just egg or milk.

I’ve never heard of that, but the old masters shared their techniques with apprentices in their studios and not with historians.

Only in the last 30 years have we realized they were all using lenses. So, we’re still working out how they did what they did.

AutoModerator t1_je9chlj wrote on March 30, 2023 at 11:09 AM

Welcome to r/science! This is a heavily moderated subreddit in order to keep the discussion on science. However, we recognize that many people want to discuss how they feel the research relates to their own personal lives, so to give people a space to do that, personal anecdotes are allowed as responses to this comment. Any anecdotal comments elsewhere in the discussion will be removed and our normal comment rules apply to all other comments.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

Jeffery_G t1_jef170e wrote on March 31, 2023 at 3:18 PM

“The Girl with the Pearl Earring” ~ The title sequence shows her making the maestro’s paint in the morning, snipping an egg yolk to add protein. “Home for the Holidays” ~ The title sequence shows Holly Hunter doing the same thing.

Coincidence?!?

mini-z1994 t1_je9jynb wrote on March 30, 2023 at 12:24 PM

Wonder if it was too just get a thicker consistency without removing pigmentation or colorshade in a cheap way.

alienbaconhybrid t1_jef2kcw wrote on March 31, 2023 at 3:27 PM

The chemistry is more complex. The protein creates microstructures in the paint allowing better impasto or thick, textured applications of paint, among other effects.

squishopotamus t1_jeaf7xs wrote on March 30, 2023 at 4:15 PM

Kurt Cobain added some protein to his paintings as well.

A study using eggs reveals why Italian Renaissance masters – artists such as Sandro Botticelli and Leonardo da Vinci – might have added protein to their oil paintings.

Comments