distemper

One of the earliest painting media, known in Egypt and ancient Mesopotamia and used by the Greeks in interior decoration. It is a mixture of powdered colour with chalk or clay, diluted with water and a gel substance (size or gum) instead of oil. Although distemper is a type of tempera, it is different to egg tempera (colour mixed with egg yolk and oil) as it is opaque and has a soft, less permanent finish, making it unsuitable for fine work.

Distemper was used in Renaissance Italy for decorative painting on a large scale, where swiftness and ease of application rather than permanence were the main considerations. Despite the impermanence of the medium, surviving examples include Raphael's cartoons (designs) in colour for murals and tapestry. In modern times distemper has been used for theatrical scene-painting, but the word is mainly applied to the whitewash used in house painting.