Old Masters Maroger - Light in color and very transparent,  it has the desired consistency of a soft jelly. All these attributes comprise a medium which is useful, versatile, and lasting.

 A. Dark Medium- Here is an example of a medium which has been overcooked; too hot or too long. Medium this dark will surely tint your paint (see Fig. 2) and as the years pass by, your entire painting will darken towards this color.

B. Opaque Medium- This medium hardly resembles Maroger. Notice how white and opaque it appears. Maroger is often used to enhance transparency, such as in shadows. Poorly manufactured mediums will ruin this effect and ultimately turn paintings, especialy glazes, opaque over time.  

               The  Proof  is  in  the  Tinting

When mixed into paint, dark mediums will decrease  chroma resulting in less brilliant colors and possibly a different color altogether. Fig. 2 shows the difference between adding a dark medium to white in comparison to adding Old Masters Maroger. The pigment labeled "other" is mixed with a darker medium and on the left with Old Masters. Not only did the dark medium reduce the pigment's chroma but it turned white into beige - rendering it practically unusable for  highlights.

Charles H. Olin,  former distinguished director of the Smithsonian Institution Museum explains, "In addition to non-darkening permanence, correctly made Maroger mediums impart ease of handling, quick drying, glazing ability, color brilliance, and other desirable qualities apparent in the great old masters.*"

* THE MAROGER MEDIUMS vs. MEGILP
  by John Bannon

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