Why Botticelli Painted with Egg Yolk – Science

Eggs are not only popular at Easter: Leonardo da Vinci, Sandro Botticelli and other Italian masters of the Renaissance also used eggs in their oil paintings. They may also have added proteins in the form of egg yolks to their oil paints – and not only to the egg tempera, which is mixed with water. As a new study shows, this has numerous positive effects on the painting process and the preservation of the pictures.