Stories ·
What a painting is made of
Compare gold, egg tempera, glue-size, charcoal and oil through works that use them differently.
National Gallery / Your next move
Bring this chapter to life.
Keep exploring National Gallery with our travel partners.
Gold and egg on wood
The Wilton Diptych uses egg tempera on oak, with gilding and stamped decoration. Egg binds the pigment, while the gold offers a surface that reflects light differently from the painted robes. The two panels hinge together, protecting the small devotional image when folded. Its construction belongs to the way it could be handled and carried.
A quieter surface
Dieric Bouts’s The Entombment was painted with glue-size on linen. That combination produces a different appearance from the richer sheen you may associate with oil paint. Compare the subdued surface with an oil painting nearby. Their present condition and conservation history also affect what you see, so brightness alone cannot tell you how either originally looked.
A large drawing
Leonardo’s Burlington House Cartoon uses charcoal and white chalk on eight sheets of paper, now mounted on canvas. Dark and light marks model the figures without coloured paint. A cartoon can prepare a full-scale design, although this drawing’s finish and lack of transfer marks suggest a presentation purpose. It is a drawing with its own material history, rather than an unfinished oil painting.
Oil that holds a brush mark
In Sunflowers, Van Gogh used oil paint on canvas. Some passages retain the thickness and movement of the applied paint. Follow a petal or the edge of the vase, then compare it with the flatter surrounding colour. The image on your screen can help identify those passages, but the real surface changes with distance and light. Keep a safe distance and let your eyes do the close looking.
Photo gallery 1
Image credits
- xiquinhosilva · Central Hall, National Gallery.jpg · CC BY 2.0 · WebP / AVIF
- https://www.flickr.com/photos/bryansjs · Entrance hall of the National Gallery, looking north.jpg · CC BY-SA 2.0 · WebP / AVIF
- https://www.flickr.com/photos/bryansjs · Entrance hall of the National Gallery, looking south.jpg · CC BY-SA 2.0 · WebP / AVIF
- Diego Delso · Bóveda de la sala 36, Galería Nacional, Londres, Inglaterra, 2014-08-11, DD 165-167 HDR.JPG · CC BY-SA 4.0 · WebP / AVIF
- Philafrenzy · National Gallery Sainsbury Wing staircase.jpg · CC0 · WebP / AVIF