Unlike oil paints, there is virtually no information in the conservation literature on either the aging of egg yolk tempera paint films or on the effects of organic solvents and other cleaning agents on tempera paint films. The present study is an exploratory investigation of these subjects and focuses on simple observations on reference paint films and analyses of soluble compounds leached by organic solvents. Paint films of vermilion, azurite, lead white, verdigris and films of egg yolk medium alone were subjected to different regimes of accelerated aging. Accelerated aging involved light-aging in a xenon arc fadeometer fitted with ultraviolet filters, followed by thermal aging in a humidity-controlled oven. Samples of aged and unaged films were treated with a range of simple organic solvents: hexane, acetone, toluene, ethanol, and chloroform. Surface topographical changes were monitored by scanning electron microscopy. Compounds extracted by solvent immersion were analyzed by gas-liquid chromatography, as was lipid material remaining in the film.