Step into the world of medieval and early Renaissance painters and discover how they painted with egg tempera. Guided by the 14th-century treatise Il Libro dell’Arte (The Craftsman’s Handbook) by Cennino Cennini, Dr Chantal Brotherton-Ratcliffe will bring the methods to life through live demonstrations. We’ll find out how painters selected their pigments and applied their paint. We’ll even learn which hens they believed would lay the finest eggs for painting. Our session will be completed by a discussion in front of relevant objects in the galleries. 

About the speaker: Chantal Brotherton-Ratcliffe has an MA from Edinburgh, and PhD from the Warburg Institute, London. She trained briefly as a paintings conservator, and has lectured on 15th-, 16th-and 17th- century European painting for over 35 years at Sotheby’s Institute of Art, as well as for a number of institutions in London including the National Gallery, the Wallace Collection and the RA.

Take part at the museum: This demonstration and tour will start in the Learning Studio, Lower Ground Floor, and move on to galleries throughout the museum.