Color As Light in Byzantine Painting

Book excerpt: This book records the many years of experience of George Kordis' use of egg tempera, which after many tests and research he combines with a specific type of sub-painting. It shows that this technique, which is a personal technological proposal, can be combined with the traditional Byzantine style, established for centuries in the Hellenic lands as the appropriate way for the rendering of Orthodox images.In the first chapters of the first part, the Byzantine painting system's visual autonomy is examined, with reference to the western naturalistic painting system and other contemporary artistic proposals. The foundation of the findings is attempted with an analysis of selected works of Byzantine and post-Byzantine painting. A detailed description of the egg tempera technique is given by sub-painting and evaluation based on its functionality in the Byzantine painting system.In the second part, the technique of egg tempera with sub-painting is presented on a laboratory level. More specifically, methods of preparation of the host (wood) are presented, gilding techniques, and mainly how landscapes, clothes, objects, faces, and compositions are painted with the technique of egg tempera with sub-painting. Also included are appendices from fresco paintings and icons painted with the method presented in the book.