Without considering pre-historic cave painting, egg tempera is, after encaustic, the oldest painting technique known. Favored by the ancient Greeks and Egyptians, it is most familiar to contemporary society through its use in Medieval and early Renaissance art and in Christian religious painting of the Byzantine era. Martin Brausewetter paints with egg tempera. Like an Old Master, he separates the white from the yolk carefully, and uses the yolk to mix with pigments and other ingredients to create his painting medium. Egg tempera dries quickly, and is insoluble after it dries. This means that it can be painted over without disturbing the original layer of paint.