Fresco
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Fresco from Ajanta, c 200 BCE - 600 CE |
A
fresco (plural
frescoes) is a term for several related
painting types. The word comes from the
Italian affresco which in turn derives from
fresco ("fresh"), which has Germanic origins. Fresco paintings can be done in two ways:
Buon fresco paintings are done on wet plaster, while
a secco paintings are completed on dried plaster.
In painting a fresco, the surface of a plastered wall is divided into areas roughly corresponding to the contours of the figures or the landscape, generally drawn on a rough underlayer of plaster, called the
arriccio. Many artists sketched their compositions on this underlayer, which would never be seen, in a red pigment called
sinopia. From this pigment, the underdrawing acquired its name, the
sinopia. On top of this first, rough layer of plaster, a second layer is added, called the
intonaco. This is the final layer, and would be smoothed and perfected as the painting surface.
Buon fresco technique consists of painting in
pigment mixed with
water on wet, fresh,
lime mortar or
plaster (
intenazo). Due to the chemical makeup of the plaster, a
binder is not required, as the pigment mixed solely with the water will be enough to bind the
pigment to the wall. The
pigment is absorbed by the wet plaster; after a number of hours, the plaster dries, and the
pigment dries as well, a part of the wall. One of the first painters to use this technique was the Isaac Master in the Upper
Basilica of Saint Francis in Assisi.
A secco painting, in contrast, is done on dry plaster. The
pigments thus require a binding medium, such as
egg, to hold the pigment to the wall.
Generally,
buon fresco works are more durable than
a secco works. Historically, the
a secco technique was used more often for final touches or to touch-up mistakes made in a
buon fresco work.
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. Thus, an artist would need to know exactly how much he/she could paint in those hours, before the plaster dries: this area is called the
giornata ("day's work"). Once a
giornata is dried, no more
buon fresco can be done without removing the dried plaster from the wall and starting over. Hence the use of
a secco to repair minor mistakes or to add finishing touches.
In a wall-sized fresco, there may be ten to twenty
giornate, or separate areas of plaster. After centuries, these giornate (originally, nearly invisible) have become visible, and in many large-scale frescoes, these divisions are visible from the ground. Additionally, the border between
giornate was often covered by
a secco frescoing, which has since fallen off.
The earliest form of
fresco was
Egyptian wall paintings in
tombs, usually using the
a secco technique.
Roman wall paintings, such as those at
Pompeii and
Herculaneum, were completed in
buon fresco.One of the rare examples of
Islam fresco painting can be seen in
Qasr Amra, the desert palace of the Umayyads in the 8th century.
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.
Andrea Palladio, the famous Italian
architect of the
16th century, built many
mansions with plain exteriors and stunning interiors filled with frescoes.
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
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
*
Rock-hewn Churches of Ivanovo, near the village of
Ivanovo, from the 13th and 14th century.
*
Boyana Church, on the outskirts of
Sofia, frescoes from
1259.
*
Rila Monastery, frescoes finished in 1846.
*
Mural.
*
Gambier Parry process.
*
Sigiriya Frescoes*
The Art and Nature of Fresco by Lucia Wiley*
Museum of Ancient Inventions: Roman-Style Fresco, Italy, 50 CE*
High Fresco - The Art of Ben Long*
Contemporary Fresco Painting Resource Center*
Fresco Techniques*
Fresco School*
Sigiriya Frescoes, The Mary B. Wheeler Collection, University of Pennsylvania Library
