Making green: Tempera versus oil (2:18)
Watch a painting demonstration to learn about the different properties of green pigments bound in egg tempera and those mixed with oil, and see how these were used to achieve very different effects in masterpieces from our collection.
Making purple: The science of art (2:53)
Visit our Scientific Department to see how the blue and red pigments traditionally mixed to make purple paint are analysed and identified. The methods used range from state-of-the-art electron microscopy to recreating historic methods for obtaining pigments.