Fresco (plural either frescos or frescoes) is any of several related painting types, done on plaster on walls or ceilings. Grisaille (grĭ-zī' -zāl' French: gris, grey French pronunciation /ɡʁi There are several monasteries near the Popocatépetl volcano in central Mexico which were built in the 16th century by members of the Franciscan, The United Mexican States ( or commonly Mexico (ˈmɛksɪkoʊ () is a federal constitutional Republic in North America. Painting (pān'tīng in Art, is the practice of applying Color to a Surface (support base such as e The term plaster can refer to plaster of Paris Lime plaster, or Cement plaster. The word fresco comes from the Italian word affresco which derives from the adjective fresco ("fresh"), which has Germanic origins.

Contents 1 Types 2 Technique 3 Conservation in Venetian Frescoes 4 Frescoes in history 5 Latin American Muralist movement 6 Indian fresco 7 Selected examples of Italian frescoes 8 See also 9 References 10 External links

Types

Buon fresco technique consists of painting in pigment mixed with water on a thin layer of wet, fresh, lime mortar or plaster, for which the Italian word for plaster, intonaco, is used. Buon fresco (Italian for true fresco) is a Fresco Painting technique in which watercolors are applied to Plaster when it is still For the drug referred to as "pigment" see Black tar heroin. Water is a common Chemical substance that is essential for the survival of all known forms of Life. Mortar is a workable paste formed by mixture of Cement, Water and fine aggregate Masonry to bind construction blocks together and fill the gaps between The term plaster can refer to plaster of Paris Lime plaster, or Cement plaster. Intonaco is an Italian term for the final very thin layer of Plaster on which a Fresco wall painting is painted Because of the chemical makeup of the plaster, a binder is not required, as the pigment mixed solely with the water will sink into the intonaco, which itself becomes the medium holding the pigment. A binder is an ingredient used to bind together two or more other materials in mixtures The pigment is absorbed by the wet plaster; after a number of hours, the plaster dries and reacts with the air: it is this chemical reaction which fixes the pigment particles in the plaster. One of the first painters in the post-classical period to use this technique was the Isaac Master in the Upper Basilica of Saint Francis in Assisi. The Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi in Assisi, Italy is the burial place of St Francis and the mother church of the Franciscan Order Assisi (əˈsiːzi or /əˈsiːsi/ ( Latin: Asisium) is a Town in Italy in Province of Perugia, Italy, in the Umbria

A secco painting, in contrast, is done on dry plaster (secco is "dry" in Italian). Fresco-secco (or a secco) is a Fresco Painting technique in which watercolors are applied to dry Plaster that has been moistened to The pigments thus require a binding medium, such as egg (tempera), glue or oil to attach the pigment to the wall. An egg is a round or oval body laid by the female of many animals consisting of an Ovum surrounded by layers of Membranes and an outer casing which acts to nourish Tempera (also known as egg tempera) is a type of artist's Paint and associated art techniques that were known from the classical world where it appears Oil painting is the process of painting with Pigments that are bound with a medium of Drying oil — especially in early modern Europe Linseed oil It is important to distinguish between a secco work done on top of buon fresco, which according to most authorities was in fact standard from the Middle Ages onwards, and work done entirely a secco on a blank wall. Generally, buon fresco works are more durable than any a secco work added on top of them, because a secco work lasts better with a roughened plaster surface, whilst true fresco should have a smooth one. The additional a secco work would be done to make changes, and sometimes to add small details, but also because not all colours can be achieved in true fresco, because only some pigments work chemically in the very alkaline environment of fresh lime-based plaster. In Chemistry, an alkali (from Arabic: Al-Qaly القلي القالي) is a basic, ionic salt of an Alkali metal Blue was a particular problem, and skies and blue robes were often added a secco, as neither azurite blue, nor lapis lazuli, the only two blue pigments then available, work well in wet fresco. ^[1]

It has also become increasingly clear, thanks to modern analytical techniques, that even in the early Italian Renaissance painters quite frequently employed a secco techniques so as to allow the use of a broader range of pigments. In most early examples this work has now entirely vanished, but a whole fresco done a secco on a surface roughened to give a key for the paint may survive very well, although damp is more threatening to it than to buon fresco.

A third type, called mezzo-fresco, is painted on nearly-dry intonaco—firm enough not to take a thumb-print, says the sixteenth-century author Ignazio Pozzo—so that the pigment only penetrates slightly into the plaster. By the end of the sixteenth century this had largely displaced buon fresco, and was used by painters such as Gianbattista Tiepolo. See also Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo (or Giandomenico Tiepolo) or Lorenzo Baldissera Tiepolo, both sons of Giovanni Battista This technique had, in reduced form, the advantages of a secco work.

The three key advantages of work done entirely a secco were that it was quicker, mistakes could be corrected, and the colours varied less from when applied to when fully dry—in wet fresco there was a considerable change.

Technique

In painting buon fresco, a rough underlayer called the arriccio is added to the whole area to be painted, and allowed it to dry for some days. Many artists sketched their compositions on this underlayer, which would never be seen, in a red pigment called sinopia; these drawings are also called sinopia. Sinopia is a reddish-brown Ocher -like earth color Pigment used in traditional Oil painting. Later, techniques for transferring paper drawings to the wall were developed. The main lines of the drawing were pricked over with a point, held against the wall, and a bag of soot (spolvero) banged on them on produce black dots along the lines. If a previous fresco was being painted over, the surface would be roughened to give a key. On the day of painting, a thinner, smooth layer of fine plaster, the intonaco, is added to the amount of wall that can be expected to be completed in a day, sometimes matching the contours of the figures or the landscape, but more often just starting from the top of the composition. This area is called the giornata ("day's work"), and the different day stages can usually be seen in a large fresco, by a sort of seam that separates one from the next.

Buon frescoes are difficult to create because of the deadline associated with the drying plaster. Generally, a layer of plaster will require ten to twelve hours to dry; ideally, an artist would begin to paint after one hour and continue until two hours before the drying time—giving seven to nine hours working time. Once a giornata is dried, no more buon fresco can be done, and the unpainted intonaco must be removed with a tool before starting again the next day. If mistakes have been made, it may also be necessary to remove the whole intonaco for that area—or to change them later a secco.

In a wall-sized fresco, there may be ten to twenty or even more giornate, or separate areas of plaster. After centuries, these giornate (originally, nearly invisible) have sometimes become visible, and in many large-scale frescoes, these divisions may be seen from the ground. Additionally, the border between giornate was often covered by a secco painting, which has since fallen off.

For wholly a secco work, the intonaco is laid with a rougher finish, allowed to dry completely and then usually given a key by rubbing with sand. The painter then proceeds much as he would on a canvas or wood panel.

Conservation in Venetian Frescoes

The climate and environment of Venice has proved to be a problem for frescoes and other works of art in the city for centuries. The city is built on a lagoon in northern Italy. The humidity and the rise of water over the centuries have created a phenomenon known as rising damp. As the lagoon water rises and seeps into the foundation of a building, the water is absorbed and rises up through the walls often causing damage to frescoes. Venetians have become quite adept in the conservation methods of frescoes.

The following is the process that was used when rescuing frescos in La Fenice, a Venetian opera house, but it is the same process for similarly damaged frescoes. First, a protection and support bandage of cotton gauze and polyvinyl alcohol is applied. Difficult sections are removed with soft brushes and localized vacuuming. The other areas that are easier to remove (because they had been damaged by less water) are removed with a paper pulp compress saturated with bicarbonate of ammonia solutions and removed with deionized water. These sections are strengthened and reattached then cleansed with base exchange resin compresses and the wall and pictorial layer were strengthened with barium hydrate. The cracks and detachments are stopped with lime putty and injected with an epoxy resin loaded with micronized silica. ^[2]

Frescoes in history

The earliest known examples frescoes done in the Buon Fresco method date at around 1500 BC and are to be found on the island of Crete in Greece. The most famous of these, The Toreador, depicts a sacred ceremony in which individuals jump over the backs of large bulls. While some similar frescoes have been found in other locations around the Mediterranean basin, particularly in Egypt and Morocco, their origins are subject to speculation.

Some art historians believe that fresco artists from Crete may have been sent to various locations as part of a trade exchange, a possibility which raises to the fore the importance of this art form within the society of the times. The most common form of fresco was Egyptian wall paintings in tombs, usually using the a secco technique. This article is about the country of Egypt For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Egypt topics. For the New York prison see The Tombs. A Tomb is a repository for the remains of the dead.

Frescoes were also painted in ancient Greece, but few of these works have survived. The term ancient Greece refers to the period of Greek history lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca In southern Italy, at Paestum, which was a Greek colony of the Magna Graecia, a tomb containing frescoes dating back to 470 BC, the so called Tomb of the Diver was discovered on June 1968. Paestum is the classical Roman name of a major Graeco-Roman city in the Campania region of Italy. Colonies in antiquity were City-states founded from a mother- City The Tomb of the Diver is an important archaeological monument found by the Italian Archaeologist Mario Napoli, on 3 June 1968 during his excavations of a small These frescoes depict scenes of the life and society of ancient Greece, and constitute valuable historical testimonials. One shows a group of men reclining at a symposium while another shows a young man diving into the sea. Symposium originally referred to a drinking party (the Greek verb sympotein means "to drink together" but has since come to refer to any Academic conference Diving off a deck into the Great South Bay of Long Islandjpg|thumb|A man dives into the Great South Bay of Long Island.

Roman wall paintings, such as those at the magnificent Villa dei Misteri (1st century B. The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial C. ) in the ruins of Pompeii, and others at Herculaneum, were completed in buon fresco. Pompeii is a ruined and partially buried Roman town-city near modern Naples and Caserta in the Italian region of Campania, in Herculaneum (in modern Italian Ercolano) is an ancient Roman town located in the territory of the current commune of Ercolano.

One of the rare examples of Islamic fresco painting can be seen in Qasr Amra, the desert palace of the Umayyads in the 8th century. For other meanings including people named 'Islam' see Islam (disambiguation. Qasr Amra (قصر عمرة is the best-known of the Desert castles located in present-day eastern Jordan.

Late Roman Empire (Christian) 1st-2nd century frescoes were found in catacombs beneath Rome and Byzantine Icons were also found in Cyprus, Crete, Ephesus, Capadocia and Antioch. Cyprus (Κύπρος transliterated: Kýpros,; Kıbrıs officially the Republic of Cyprus (Κυπριακή Δημοκρατία Kypriakī́ Dīmokratía Crete ( Greek: Κρήτη transliteration: Krētē, modern transliteration Kriti) is the largest of the Greek islands and the Ephesus ( Hittite Apasa; Ancient Greek; Turkish Efes) was a city of ancient Anatolia. Cappadocia (or Capadocia, Turkish Kapadokya, from Greek: Καππαδοκία / Kappadokía which in turn is from the Persian: Antioch on the Orontes (Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Δάφνῃ Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ Μεγάλη Antiochia ad Orontem also Roman frescoes were done by the artist painting the artwork on the still damp plaster of the wall, so that the painting is part of the wall, actually colored plaster.

Also a historical collection of Ancient Christian frescoes can be found in the Churches of Goreme Turkey. Göreme is a district of the Nevşehir Province in Turkey. After the eruption of Mount Erciyes about 2000 years ago the lava formed soft rocks in the

The late Medieval period and the Renaissance saw the most prominent use of fresco, particularly in Italy, where most churches and many government buildings still feature fresco decoration. The Renaissance (from French Renaissance, meaning "rebirth" Italian: Rinascimento, from re- "again" and nascere Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest

Andrea Palladio, the famous Italian architect of the 16th century, built many mansions with plain exteriors and stunning interiors filled with frescoes. Andrea Palladio ( November 30, 1508 – August 19, 1580) was an Italian Architect, widely considered the most influential An architect is a licensed individual who leads a design team in the Planning and Design of buildings and participates in oversight of Building Construction A mansion is a large dwelling House. The word itself derives (through Old French) from the Latin word mansus (the perfect passive participle

Latin American Muralist movement

Jose Clemente Orozco, David Siqueiros and Diego Rivera the famous Mexican artists renewed the art of fresco painting in the 20th century. José Clemente Orozco ( November 23, 1883 &ndash September 7, 1949) was a Mexican social realist painter, who José David Alfaro Siqueiros ( December 29, 1896 in Camargo, Chihuahua, Mexico - January 6, 1974 in Cuernavaca Diego Rivera (December 8 1886 &ndash November 24 1957 was born Diego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez Orozco, Siqueiros, Rivera and his wife Frida Kahlo contributed more to the history of Mexican fine arts and to the reputation of Mexican art in general than anybody else. Frida Kahlo (July 6 1907 – July 13 1954 was a Mexican painter, who has achieved great international popularity The United Mexican States ( or commonly Mexico (ˈmɛksɪkoʊ () is a federal constitutional Republic in North America. Rivera's large wall works in fresco established the Mexican Mural Renaissance together with works by Orozco, Siqueiros, and others.

Indian fresco

The frescoes on the ceilings and walls of the Ajanta Caves were painted between c. 200 BCE and 600. They depict the Jataka tales that are stories of the Buddha's life in former existences as Bodhisattva. The Jātaka Tales ( Sanskrit जातक and Pali, Malay: jetaka Lao: satok refer to a voluminous body of Folklore -like literature Siddhārtha Gautama ( Sanskrit; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual Teacher from Ancient India and the founder In the Buddhist context a bodhisattva (बोधिसत्त्व bodhisattva;; Vietnamese Bồ Tát; बोधिसत्त bodhisatta The narrative episodes are depicted one after another although not in a linear order. Their identification has been a core area of research on the subject since the time of the site's rediscovery in 1819. The Chola fresco paintings were discovered in 1931 within the circumambulatory passage of the Brihadisvara Temple in India and are the first Chola specimens discovered. The Brihadishwara Temple ( Tamil: ta பெருவுடையார் கோவில் also known as Rajarajeswaram, at Thanjavur is a brilliant India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country

Researchers have discovered the technique used in these frescos. A smooth batter of limestone mixture is applied over the stones, which took two to three days to set. Within that short span, such large paintings were painted with natural organic pigments.

During the Nayak period the chola paintings were painted over. Origins of Nayak rule With the demise of the Chola dynasty in 1279 Thanjavur was ruled by various small chieftains until the Vijayanagara Empire conquered The Chola frescos lying underneath have an ardent spirit of saivism is expressed in them. Shaivism, also spelled "Saivism" names the oldest of the four sects of Hinduism. They probably synchronised with the completion of the temple by Rajaraja Cholan the Great.

Selected examples of Italian frescoes

Italian Early Medieval

• Castelseprio

Italian Late Medieval-Quattrocento

• Panels (including Giotto(?), Lorenzetti, Martini and others) in upper and lower Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi
• Giotto, Cappella degli Scrovegni (Arena Chapel), Padua
• Camposanto, Pisa
• Masaccio, Brancacci Chapel, Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence
• Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Palazzo Pubblico, Siena
• Piero della Francesca, Chiesa di San Francesco, Arezzo
• Ghirlandaio, Cappella Tornabuoni, Santa Maria Novella, Florence
• The Last Supper, Leonardo Da Vinci, Milan (technically a tempera on plaster and stone, not a true fresco [1])
• Sistine Chapel Wall series: Botticelli, Perugino, Rossellini, Signorelli, and Ghirlandaio
• Luca Signorelli, Chapel of San Brizio, Duomo, Orvieto
• Luciano Medevici, a monochromatic fresco, destroyed in a fire in 1944. Castelseprio was the site of a Roman fort in antiquity and a significant Lombard town in the early Middle Ages before being destroyed and abandoned in 1287 The Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi in Assisi, Italy is the burial place of St Francis and the mother church of the Franciscan Order The Scrovegni Chapel, or Cappella degli Scrovegni, also known as the Arena Chapel is a church in Padua, Veneto Padua ( Padova 'padova Latin: Patavium, Padoa) is a city in the Veneto, northern Italy. Pisa is a city in Tuscany, central Italy, on the right bank of the mouth of the Arno River on the Ligurian Sea. Masaccio (born Tommaso Cassai or in some accounts Tommaso di Ser Giovanni di Mone; December 21, 1401 &ndash autumn 1428 was the first great Brancacci Chapel is a Chapel in the Church of Santa Maria del Carmine in Florence. Florence ( Italian: Firenze Florentia and Fiorenza) is the Capital City of the Italian region of Tuscany Ambrogio Lorenzetti (or Ambruogio Laurati; c 1290 &ndash June 9, 1348) was an Italian painter of the Sienese school. The Palazzo Pubblico ( town hall) is a palace in the city of Siena, located in the Tuscany region of Italy. Siena is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Siena. Piero della Francesca (c 1412 &ndash October 12, 1492) was an Italian artist of the Early Renaissance. Arezzo ( Latin Arretium) is a city in central Italy, capital of the province of the same name, located in Domenico Ghirlandaio (1449 &ndash January 11, 1494) was a renowned Florentine Renaissance painter a contemporary of Botticelli The Tornabuoni Chapel (Italian Cappella Tornabuoni) is the main chapel (or Chancel) in the church of Santa Maria Novella, Florence, Italy Santa Maria Novella is a church in Florence, Italy situated just across the main railway station which shares its name The Last Supper (Il Cenacolo or L'Ultima Cena) is a 15th century Mural painting in Milan created by Leonardo da Vinci for his patron Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci ( April 15 1452 – May 2 1519 was an Italian Polymath, having been a scientist Mathematician, Engineer Tempera (also known as egg tempera) is a type of artist's Paint and associated art techniques that were known from the classical world where it appears Sistine Chapel (Cappella Sistina is the best-known Chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the Pope in Vatican City. Pietro Perugino (1446–1524 was the leading painter of the Umbrian school who developed some of the qualities that found classic expression in the High Renaissance Rossellini is a common Italian Family name in Italy. Other spellings include Rosselini. Luca Signorelli (c 1445 - October 16, 1523) was an Italian Renaissance painter who was noted in particular for his ability as a draughtsman Domenico Ghirlandaio (1449 &ndash January 11, 1494) was a renowned Florentine Renaissance painter a contemporary of Botticelli Luca Signorelli (c 1445 - October 16, 1523) was an Italian Renaissance painter who was noted in particular for his ability as a draughtsman Orvieto is a city in southwestern Umbria, Italy situated on the flat summit of a large butte of Luciano Medevici was an Italian painter He born in Florence to wealthy parents in the last years of the fourteenth century

Italian "High Renaissance"

• Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling
• Raphael's Vatican Stanza
• Raphael's Villa Farnesina
• Giulio Romano's Palazzo del Tè, Mantua
• Mantegna, Camera degli Sposi, Palazzo Ducale, Mantua
• The dome of the Cathedral Santa Maria del Fiore of Florence

Italian Baroque

• The Loves of the Gods, Annibale Carracci, Palazzo Farnese
• Allegory of Divine Providence and Barberini Power, Pietro da Cortona, Palazzo Barberini
• Ceilings, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, (New Residenz) Wurzburg, (Royal Palace) Madrid, (Villa Pisani) Stra, and others; Wall scenes (Villa Valmarana and Palazzo Labia)
• Nave ceiling, Andrea Pozzo, Sant'Ignazio, Rome

See also

• Mural
• Gambier Parry process
• Sigiriya Frescoes

References

External links

• The Art and Nature of Fresco by Lucia Wiley
• Museum of Ancient Inventions: Roman-Style Fresco, Italy, 50 AD
• Fresco in today's interior decoration
• Fresco examples from Italy

Fresco technique described

• Contemporary Fresco Painting Resource Center
• Fresco Techniques
• Fresco School
• Sigiriya Frescoes, The Mary B. Wheeler Collection, University of Pennsylvania Library

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