pintura temple

18:10 Sep 21, 2018 

Trivia 2: as your reference says, the disease comes from the idea of not being properly balanced (not being well-tempered, like Bach's Clavier). On the paint, the Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology says this:

"distemper 2 †mix with liquid, soak XIV; fig. dilute XVI; (f. the sb.) paint in distemper XIX. — OF. destemprer or late L. distemperāre soak, macerate, f. L. DIS- 1, 2 + temperāre mingle, qualify, TEMPER.
Hence (after OF. destrempe, mod. dé-) distemper sb. 2 method of painting on plaster XVII; whiting mixed with size and water used in this XIX. "
https://www.encyclopedia.com/plants-and-animals/zoology-and-...

On Trivia 1: I can't think what it is! Please put me out of my misery when you think I've stewed for long enough.

17:30 Sep 21, 2018 

I wondered what was the connection between an obsolescent kind of paint and a canine disease. I've looked it up, but I still don't fully understand it:
htts://www.etymonline.com/word/distemper

17:27 Sep 21, 2018 

There's a famous 20th-century British novel that's all about distempering. Anyone know what it is?

06:24 Sep 21, 2018 

Yes, it's old-fashioned from the Anglo-American perspective expressed in your source, though that source does go on to note that it's still widely used in India (which is definitely true). But distemper was still very common in the mid-twentieth century, and it's still available in the UK even today.

23:29 Sep 20, 2018 

"Though it saw continual use from ancient Egyptian times to the end of the 19th century, the advent of oil- and latex-based house paints have rendered distemper obsolete. The exceptions are instances of historic and period-authentic structures, where distempered surfaces continue to be maintained. It's also somewhat common in theatrical presentations and other short-term applications."
http://www.thoughtco.com/where-did-distemper-paint-come-from...

20:09 Sep 20, 2018 

temper in English and templar inSpanish both have the same latin root (temperare) so I guess that means "distemper" and "pintura al temple" are the same thing

19:16 Sep 20, 2018 

I answered "distemper" and then got cold feet and withdrew it; I thought it probably meant emulsion. But I'm changing my mind again; I think it is distemper, though I'm not sure whether it should be called that.

It's still sold and used in Spain; DIY superstores sell it, and builders and decorators use it. You buy it in powder form, in plastic sacks, and mix it with water before use; it doesn't keep in liquid form. It's mostly used for gotelé (stippled), but there's also smooth temple, as here. I don't think British builders and decorators use it any more, but they used to. It's not used very much in Spain nowadays, for that matter.

17:05 Sep 20, 2018 

To be fair, googling it is likely to produce the wrong answer, unless you're very careful and know something about painting.

16:51 Sep 20, 2018 

You don't say what research you've done or what your thoughts are, but you've probably at least looked in a dictionary and found "distemper". I'm not sure whether this a word that's used any more and whether we call it something else.