GUAZZO. — Gum painting is that which uses gum as the medium or vehicle for the color instead of the animal glues, wax, and egg whites employed in tempera.
The process is very ancient: it was widely used in Hellenistic painting, at Pompeii, and in the catacombs. Transparent and expeditious, the gum brushstroke allows for easy and evocative effects, and because it is of a very thin consistency, almost like a glaze, it enables the painter to realize the pictorial idea immediately. Today it is mostly used in scenography, which makes good use of its rapid technique and synthetic pictorial vision.