Tempera
Some of the oldest paintings in tempera are funeral portraits of dead people done is Egypt during the time of Ancient Rome. Tempera continued to be used for Christian religious paintings. It was the medium for Greek icons and was used in Italy and many other countries until oil painting came into use, in about 1500. Most of the famous Italian Renaissance painters used tempera. This includes Duccio, Giotto, Fra Angelico, Botticelli and Michelangelo. In Northern Europe they used oil paint. This started to become popular in Italy in the 1570s. Leonardo painted the Mona Lisa in oil paint. Nowadays, although oil paint and vinyl paint are much more common, some artists paint in tempera. One of the most famous tempera painters of the 20th century is Andrew Wyeth.