Fresco

A fresco is a special way to paint pictures directly onto walls. Artists use this method by painting on wet lime plaster. The paint mixes with the wet plaster, and as the plaster dries, the picture becomes part of the wall itself. This makes the painting very strong and able to last for many years.

The Creation of Adam, a detail of the fresco Sistine Chapel ceiling by Michelangelo

The word "fresco" comes from the Italian word for "fresh," because the painting is done on fresh, wet plaster. There are other ways to paint on walls, but fresco is one of the oldest methods used by artists. It became very famous during the Italian Renaissance, a time when many great artists created beautiful paintings on walls and ceilings.

Even though people often think of fresco as painting only on wet plaster, artists sometimes used other materials too. But the main idea is that fresco paintings are made to last and become part of the wall they are painted on.

Technology

Etruscan fresco. Detail of two dancers from the Tomb of the Triclinium in the Necropolis of Monterozzi 470 BC, Tarquinia, Lazio, Italy.

Buon fresco pigment is mixed with room temperature water and put on a thin layer of wet plaster, called the intonaco. The pigment sticks to the plaster without extra glue because the wet plaster holds it. As the plaster dries, it reacts with air, which makes the paint part of the wall forever.

The process starts by heating limestone to make quicklime. Then it is mixed with water to form lime plaster. This plaster hardens when it reacts with carbon dioxide in the air. Artists often sketch their designs on a rough underlayer using a red pigment called sinopia. Before painting, they add a thin, smooth layer of plaster to the area they will paint that day, called the giornata. This gives the artist a short time to work before the plaster dries.

Other types of wall painting

A secco or fresco-secco painting is done on dry plaster. The word secco means "dry" in Italian. The paints need a special glue, like egg (tempera), glue itself, or oil (oil), to stick to the wall.

Regular fresco paintings usually last longer than secco work added later. This is because secco works hold better on rough plaster, while regular fresco needs smooth plaster. Secco work was often used to fix small details or add colors that couldn’t be done in regular fresco, like blue.

Fresco by Giotto, Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. Sky and blue mantle of Maria were painted a secco, and large part of the painting is now lost.

Over time, we’ve learned that even in the early Italian Renaissance, artists often used secco methods to use more kinds of paints. Most of this work has disappeared now, but a whole painting done secco on roughened plaster can last a long time. Damp can harm it more than regular fresco.

Another type is called mezzo-fresco, painted on plaster that is almost dry. By the end of the sixteenth century, this method had mostly replaced regular fresco and was used by artists like Giovanni Battista Tiepolo and Michelangelo. This way had some of the good points of secco work, but in a smaller way.

The main good things about secco work are that it was faster, mistakes could be fixed, and the colors stayed more the same from when they were first put on to when they were completely dry.

For secco work, the plaster is made rougher, left to dry fully, and then usually rubbed with sand to prepare it. The painter then works much like on a canvas or wooden board.

History

Egypt and ancient Near East

The first known Egyptian fresco was found in Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis and dates to around 3500–3200 BC. The fresco shows scenes like a man fighting two lions and boats from different places. Ancient Egyptians painted many tombs and houses, but those wall paintings are not frescos.

An old fresco from Mesopotamia is the Investiture of Zimri-Lim, dating from the early 18th century BC, found in modern Syria.

Reproduction of the earliest known fresco, Tomb 100, Hierakonpolis, Naqada II culture, Egypt (c. 3500–3200 BCE).

Aegean civilizations

The oldest frescos done in the buon fresco method date from the first half of the second millennium BCE during the Bronze Age and are found among Aegean civilizations, especially Minoan art from the island of Crete and other islands of the Aegean Sea. The most famous of these is the Bull-Leaping Fresco, which shows a sacred ceremony where people jump over the backs of large bulls. The oldest surviving Minoan frescos are on the island of Santorini, dating to around 1640–1600 BC.

Classical antiquity

Frescos were also painted in ancient Greece, but few of these works have survived. In southern Italy, at Paestum, a tomb with frescos dating back to 470 BC was discovered in June 1968. These frescos show scenes from ancient Greek life and society. One shows men reclining at a symposium, while another shows a young man diving into the sea. Etruscan frescos from the 4th century BC have been found in the Tomb of Orcus near Veii, Italy.

The richly decorated Thracian frescos of the Tomb of Kazanlak date back to the 4th century BC and are a UNESCO-protected World Heritage Site.

Investiture of Zimri-Lim, Syria, fresco painted c. 1770 BCE.

Roman wall paintings, such as those at the Villa dei Misteri in the ruins of Pompeii and others at Herculaneum, were completed in buon fresco.

Roman frescos from the 1st to 2nd centuries AD were found in catacombs beneath Rome, and Byzantine icons were also found in Cyprus, Crete, Ephesus, Cappadocia, and Antioch. Roman frescos were done by painting on still damp plaster, so the painting becomes part of the wall.

India

Thanks to many ancient rock-cut cave temples, valuable ancient and early medieval frescos have been preserved in more than 20 locations in India. The frescos on the ceilings and walls of the Ajanta Caves were painted between around 200 BC and 600 AD and are the oldest known frescos in India. They show the Jataka tales, stories from the life of the Buddha.

Other locations with preserved frescos include Bagh Caves, Ellora Caves, Sittanavasal, Armamalai Cave, Badami Cave Temples, and others. Frescos were made in several techniques, including tempera technique.

Sri Lanka

The Fisherman, Minoan Bronze Age fresco from Akrotiri, on the Aegean island of Santorini (classically Thera), dated to the Neo-Palatial period (c. 1640–1600 BC). The settlement of Akrotiri was buried in volcanic ash (dated by radiocarbon dating to c. 1627 BC) by the Minoan eruption on the island, which preserved many Minoan frescoes like this.

The Sigiriya Frescos are found in Sigiriya in Sri Lanka. Painted during the reign of King Kashyapa I (ruled 477 – 495 AD), they are thought to show women from the king's royal court. The painting technique used is "fresco lustro", which includes a mild binding agent for extra durability.

Middle Ages

The late Medieval period and the Renaissance saw the most use of fresco, especially in Italy. This change matched changes in church services. Romanesque churches in Catalonia were richly painted in the 12th and 13th centuries.

Early modern Europe

Etruscan fresco of Velia Velcha from the Tomb of Orcus, Tarquinia

Fresco painting continued into the Baroque in southern Europe, for churches and palaces. Gianbattista Tiepolo was a major artist in this tradition.

Northern Romania has about a dozen painted monasteries from the late 15th to the early 16th century. The most remarkable are at Voroneţ (1487), Arbore (1503), Humor (1530), and Moldoviţa (1532).

Mexican muralism

José Clemente Orozco, Fernando Leal, David Siqueiros and Diego Rivera renewed fresco painting in the 20th century. They helped create the art movement known as Mexican Muralism.

Contemporary

There have been few frescos created since the 1960s, but some are important.

The American artist Brice Marden’s works shown in 1966 were inspired by frescos. David Novros has worked with the fresco technique for over 50 years. In 1968, he created a fresco at 101 Spring Street, New York, using medieval methods.

The American painter James Hyde first showed frescos in New York in 1985. He has experimented with different supports for fresco plaster, including Styrofoam. His frescos have been shown in Europe and the United States.

Selected examples of frescoes

Ancient and Early Medieval

North Macedonia

Bulgaria

Colombia

Santiago Martinez Delgado painted a mural in the Colombian Congress Building, and also in the Colombian National Building.

Czechia

Rotunda of Saint Catherine in Znojmo

France

Saint-Esprit, Paris
Palais des Papes, Avignon, 14th-century frescoes by Matteo Giovanetti
Abbey Church of Saint-Savin-sur-Gartempe, Romanesque frescoes
Albi cathedral, Renaissance frescoes
Val-de-Grâce, Paris, Baroque fresco by Pierre Mignard on the cupola

Italy

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)
Sistine Chapel Wall series: Botticelli, Perugino, Rossellini, Signorelli, and Ghirlandaio
Luca Signorelli, Chapel of San Brizio, Duomo, Orvieto

High Renaissance

Mexico

Fresco Cycle of The Miracles of the Virgin of Guadalupe by Fernando Leal, at Basilica of Guadalupe, Mexico City
Fresco Cycle of Bolivar's Epic by Fernando Leal, at Colegio de San Ildefonso, Mexico City

Note: Fresco cycle, a series of frescos done about a particular subject

The Netherlands

Château St. Gerlach

Serbian Medieval

United States

Prometheus in Pomona College's Frary Dining Hall. Painted in 1930 by José Clemente Orozco, it is the first example of a modern, Mexican fresco mural in the U.S.
St. Ann Arts and Cultural Center in Woonsocket, RI. Home of the largest collection of fresco paintings in North America.

Conservation of frescoes

Main article: Conservation and restoration of frescos

The city of Venice faces special challenges in keeping its art safe because of its wet environment. Built on a lagoon, the rising water can damage wall paintings, a problem called rising damp. Over time, this water can harm the frescoes and even allow mold to grow.

When fixing damaged frescoes, such as those in La Fenice, experts use special materials to protect and repair the paintings. They apply supportive bandages and carefully remove damaged parts. They then clean and strengthen the paintings before putting them back in place.