“Beauty triumphs with colored wax and obliges the painter to love his work,

wax acquiring a voice and paint the gift of speech”.

(SEVERUS ALEXANDER, Roman Emperor, 222-235 AD).

Encaustic is both a wall and an easel painting technique. The term derives from the Latin word encaustica, meaning “painting with heat”. This painting technique was already widespread among ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans. Best known as “Pompeian painting”, it consists in mixing colors with beeswax and then fixing the resulting medium to a support with heat, using special metal tools called cauterii or cestri.

Not much is known about this technique, and very little can be drawn from ancient sources

- Pliny deals with it in his Naturalis Historia (“cera punica fit hoc modo ventilatur sub die saepius cera fulva…”, Book XXI, chapter 49) and Vitruvius in his De Architectura.

I recently had the opportunity to see some works by Michele and Luciano Paternuosto. Since 1980 they have been using a technique which enables them to paint on both wet and dry plaster (made with lime and sand), wood, marble, terracotta, etc., each time obtaining the same chromatic effect and using colors which are not compatible with fresco. Having seen the results myself, I believe that the revival of the ancient encaustic technique is close at hand.

                                                                      Prof. CLAUDIO STRINATI
                                                                     Head of Monuments and Fine Arts Office, Rome

Rome 2000

Through Morena Art, his own business, Michele Paternuosto has been able to find an interesting balance between artisan expertise and the spirit of research. After the manner of certain men of ancient history who left us valuable teachings on artistic techniques, Paternuosto based his research on  practical exercises and on the scientific testing of the  ideas he collected over years of interesting research. He focused his attention on encaustic and its applications. For a long time, researchers have tried to piece together the mystery of encaustic, often obtaining contradictory results. Was it just a variant of the traditional fresco being polished with wax, as many researchers came to think? Or, maybe, a technique of its own, which was suitable for painting on walls and other supports,

by applying lost methods to actually mix wax with pigments? Many sharp minds have come to grips with this issue, without ever coming to a final solution.

Today, Paternuosto’s findings are robust and convincing enough to be taken seriously by anyone who cherishes the advancement of research in the field of ancient techniques and their correct knowledge. Paternuosto successfully showed that encaustic suits any support. Provided wax is mixed with colors, the painted surface is then heated with metal tools which melt the wax, fixing the medium to the support and giving the painting a bright and remarkably uniform appearance, its surface feeling smooth and firm, its matter becoming a whole, filled with charm and meaningful beauty.

Building on these simple rules, Paternuosto has developed many side aspects of his research. Now he presents them in order for art experts to notice them, review them and discuss on them, driven by an honest commitment to his work and a praiseworthy morality, so typical of someone

who has a long artisan tradition and wants to lay bare before other people’s judgment with clear conscience and notable discretion. 

                                                                       Prof. CLAUDIO STRINATI
                                                                      Head of Monuments and Fine Arts Office, Rome

Rome, July 2006

The only thing I can be proud of having given master Paternuosto is my friendship. We have known each other for many years. He trusted me and I trusted him, and our friendship has been strong and heart-felt ever since. As soon as I saw him - and I believe everyone will agree with me - I immediately recognized the commitment and the care of the true discoverer, that is someone who believes in his research and in the ability to carry it forth without any presumption and false modesty. I was impressed by Paternuosto’s attitude towards the investigation of the ancient world - he was free from prejudice whatsoever. The subject was and still is a beautiful and appealing one, because it deals with one of the great mysteries (actually, it isn’t mysterious at all) of ancient painting techniques: encaustic. "So much has been said and written on the subject!" was my first reaction when I had the opportunity to take a look at Michele Paternuosto’s work at his studio. But I later realized that he did work like the ancients, he was not at all daunted by those who came before him. He simply had the right attitude, a combination of respect and faith, of someone who is focused on explaining what really happened in Roman times, bearing in mind that those men were like us - they didn’t have superpowers, but rather a exceptional know-how and a tremendous commitment. I don’t want to place myself above master Paternuosto and explain his discovery and how he researched it.

Prof. CLAUDIO STRINATI

Head of Roman Museums