Encaustum

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A type of ancient Roman painting technique that used hot wax for color application
2. A method of decorating surfaces with a mixture of colored pigments and molten wax to achieve a unique finish
3. A style of artwork involving the application of heated wax and pigments to create enduring and vibrant images

Etymology: In ancient Greece, "enkaustos" meant "burned in," and the technique took its name from the heat used to fix pigment. Pliny the Elder describes painters mixing colored wax with heat, then applying it with a heated tool called a "cestrum" to press the wax into a surface. Painted funerary portraits from Roman-era Egypt, the Fayum mummy portraits, still show how well the method lasted. The Latin "encaustum" once meant something quite different: a purple or red ink. Byzantine emperors used it to sign official documents, and the term survived in that ceremonial sense long after the painting technique had faded from common use. The same root gave English the adjective "encaustic," which later came to describe glazed or inlaid tiles.

Synonyms: encaustic painting, wax painting, hot wax art