Painting Techniques — Fresco & Tempera

A painting technique is the physical method by which pigment (colouring matter) is bound to and fixed onto a surface. Fix the vocabulary on first use: a pigment is the colouring matter; a binder/medium is the substance that holds the pigment and sticks it to the surface; the ground is the prepared surface that is painted on (the "support"); and a mural is a painting done on a wall or ceiling. The two dominant techniques in the Indian mural tradition are Fresco and Tempera. The single most important exam point: Indian "frescoes" (Ajanta, Bagh) are technically tempera / fresco-secco, NOT true buon fresco — a frequent UPSC trap. Indian texts also codified the Shadanga — the "six limbs" of painting — of which one limb (varnika-bhanga) is precisely the technique of mixing and applying colour.

1. Why Technique Matters

• UPSC asks directly — e.g. "Ajanta — fresco or tempera?"
• It tests the wet vs dry wall distinction, and links technique to durability, colour quality and which site used what.

2. Fresco — Definition & Types

• Fresco (Italian fresco = "fresh") = mural painting done on freshly laid lime plaster.
• Buon fresco (true/wet fresco): pigments mixed only in water (no binder) on wet/fresh lime plaster; as it dries, carbonation locks the pigment permanently into the wall — the colour becomes the wall → very durable. It must be done quickly, in daily sections (giornate), over a rough arriccio and a fine intonaco coat, often guided by a red sinopia under-drawing; only lime-resistant pigments survive, so the palette is limited.
• Fresco-secco (dry fresco): painting on dry plaster, where a binder (glue, egg, gum) is needed because the wall can't absorb pigment chemically; less durable (can flake/peel) but a wider colour range is possible.
• Key line: buon fresco = wet + no binder + chemical bonding; fresco-secco = dry + binder + mechanical adhesion.

3. Tempera — Definition & Nature

• Tempera = pigment bound with a medium, classically egg yolk (egg tempera), also gum, glue or casein.
• Applied on a dry, prepared ground (wall, wood panel or cloth); fast-drying, with a matte finish, crisp lines and fine detail.
• Durable when dry, but the colour sits as a layer on top of the ground (unlike buon fresco); used on both murals and miniatures/panels.

4. The Indian Mural Method (what was actually used)

• Indian "frescoes" are technically mostly tempera / fresco-secco — the surface was usually dry (or only slightly damp) and the colours used a binder, so they are not true buon fresco.
• The typical Ajanta-type process:
  1. Rough rock wall keyed and given a ground of clay, cow-dung, rice-husk/vegetable fibre and lime (the coarse coat).
  2. A fine lime/gypsum smooth coat applied and polished.
  3. The outline drawn in red/cinnabar; a green-earth (terre verte) under-painting often laid for flesh.
  4. Local colours filled in with a binder (glue/gum), then shading and modelling for the rounded "Ajanta" volume, and a final outline.
  5. Burnishing/polishing to give a sheen.
• Hence Ajanta is best described as tempera (or fresco-secco) — the classic trap.

5. The Shadanga (Six Limbs of Indian Painting)

• An ancient canon (from Vatsyayana's Kamasutra, as explained by Yashodhara) of six essentials of painting: Rupabheda (knowledge of forms), Pramana (proportion/measure), Bhava (emotion/expression), Lavanya-yojana (grace, infusion of beauty), Sadrishya (likeness/resemblance) and Varnika-bhanga (the technique — mixing and applying colour).
• The last limb, varnika-bhanga, is exactly the fresco/tempera concern of this leaf.

6. Pigments / Colours

• Sourced from minerals and earth — red & yellow ochre, lime white, lamp black (carbon), green (glauconite/terre verte), red (cinnabar/vermilion), yellow (orpiment).
• True blue from lapis lazuli was imported and expensive (from Afghanistan) — its presence signals wealth and long-distance trade.

7. Indian Sites & Their Techniques

• Ajanta (Maharashtra) — 30 rock-cut caves; murals in tempera / fresco-secco across two phases (Satavahana/Hinayana, 2nd c. BCE; Vakataka/Mahayana, 5th c. CE). Masterpieces: the Bodhisattvas Padmapani and Vajrapani (Cave 1), the assault of Mara, the Mahajanaka, Vishvantara and Shibi Jatakas, and the "Dying Princess" (Cave 16). Rediscovered in 1819 by a British officer, John Smith.
• Bagh caves (Madhya Pradesh) — tempera, closely related to Ajanta but more worldly/secular in subject (the "Rang Mahal," Cave 4).
• Sittanavasal (Tamil Nadu) — the Jain Arivar Koil cave (Pandya period), famous for its lotus-pond ceiling with dancers, bulls and elephants; fresco-secco/tempera.
• Badami (Karnataka) — early Chalukyan murals; Ellora — mural traces (Kailasa temple) in the tempera tradition.
• Lepakshi (Andhra Pradesh) — Vijayanagara murals on the Veerabhadra temple ceiling (one of the largest mural panels); Brihadeshwara/Tanjore — Chola murals later overpainted in the Nayaka period.
• Kerala mural tradition — a distinct later school (Mattancherry Palace, Padmanabhapuram) using the limited "panchavarna" (five-colour) mineral/vegetable palette.
• Contrast: European true buon fresco (Roman Pompeii; the Italian Renaissance — Michelangelo's Sistine ceiling) — cited only to define the "pure" form.

8. Related Technique Terms

• Mural — any wall/ceiling painting (umbrella term). Miniature — a small detailed painting, usually tempera on paper/cloth.
• Encaustic — pigment in hot wax. Gouache — opaque watercolour with a binder (used in miniatures). Wash — the Bengal-School method of thin layered washes (a later contrast).

9. Quick Reference Tables

Technique questions are short, factual and high-yield — one correct distinction often decides the question.

For Mains, link technique → durability, palette and trade, and always tag the Indian tradition as tempera/secco with examples.