Final answer:
Gentile da Fabriano used the technique of gilding to apply gold to his Adoration of the Magi panel, a common method in fifteenth-century art to add luxurious detailing.
Step-by-step explanation:
The fifteenth-century artist Gentile da Fabriano applied thinly hammered sheets of gold to his Adoration of the Magi tempera panel using a technique known as gilding. Gilding is the process of applying fine gold leaf or powder to solid surfaces such as wood, stone, or metal to give a thin coating of gold. A technique used for decoration and artwork, it has been used in various forms for thousands of years, and in the case of Gentile da Fabriano's work, it helped create rich and luxurious surfaces that were typical of the period's opulent taste in art.
By contrast, encaustic involves mixing wax with pigments, sgraffito is a form of decoration made by scratching through a surface to reveal a lower layer of a contrasting color, typically in wall or pottery decorations, and impasto refers to a technique used in painting, where paint is laid on an area of the surface in thick layers, making the strokes visible.