A Study of Pietro Annigoni's Tempera Grassa Technique

Based on a survey report in Italy

Abstract

The Tempera grassa technique used by the Italian Florentine painter Pietro Annigoni (1910-1988) is described in catalogs of his works, biographies of his life, and books by his students. However, there are only a few previous studies on the Annigoni's technique that show the specific production process from undercoating to completion, and the technique has only been passed down to the surviving students of Annigoni. Although it is known from some books that Annigoni used Japanese paper as a base, it is not known when and to what extent he used it in his works, as it is omitted from the catalogs and captions of his works in museums.

This paper clarifies the production process and characteristics of Annigoni's series of tempera grassa, and examines why Annigoni dared to use Japanese paper as a base for his works, and what effect Japanese paper had on the figurative expression of his works, based on field research.

As a result, we were able to infer that Annigoni's tempera grassa technique began with the Venetian School in his early years and gradually shifted to the Northern Renaissance technique.

It is also clear that Japanese paper was used as a base for almost all the tempera paintings he painted in his studio from the late 1940s onward. In addition, Annigoni's tempera paintings that used Japanese paper as a base were created using delicate tempera paints that made the most of the texture of the paper, indicating the close relationship between Japanese paper and Annigoni's tempera technique in terms of formative expression.