The fresco (Italian meaning "fresh") is a type of mural painting. There are many techniques in painting frescos. In buon, or pure, fresco, a fresh wet layer of plaster is applied to a prepared wall surface. The pigments used in the painting is mixed with water so that it soaks into the plaster. When dry, a chemical bond forms between the paint and the wall surface and they permanently fuse together. In another type of fresco, the paint is fused on a dry, or secco, surface with adhesive binder flakes. This, however, is not permanent.
Although the origins and development of the fresco are unclear, evidence of frescoes dates back to the Minoan civilization of Crete in the second millennium BC. Artists continued to paint frescoes through the Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Empires. Though few Greek frescoes have survived, many examples of Roman frescoes are found in Herculaneum and Pompeii. The early Christians from about 250 to 400 AD even decorated Roman catacombs with simple frescoes. Catacombs were places of burial, found mainly in Rome. Vast wall frescoes also existed in India and China.
The fresco was utilized the most in Renaissance art, where buon frescoes were mostly painted. Buon was popular because it required less plaster, since plaster was only applied to an area that could be finished in one session. Compositions were planned well in advance and then sketched in sinopia – red chalk or ocher wash. A layer of plaster called intonaco was applied as the section of the sinopia was about to be painted.
Usually, artists and assistants worked collaboratively on a fresco under a master's supervision and design. If the wall to be painted was large, artists worked on scaffolding, beginning at the top and working downwards.
After the Renaissance, the fresco's popularity declined. It was, however, revived in the 20th Century by the Mexican painters Diego Rivera, Jose Orozco, and David Siqueiros when they used frescoes for their murals. During the Depression of the 1930’s under the Works Progress Administration, many American artists such as Thomas Hart Benton produced fresco murals as well. Today, frescoes are no longer widely used due to its susceptibility to humidity and weathering.
Renaissance Artists of the Fresco
Ancient Minoan fresco from the Palace at Knossos (c. 1500 BC) depicting a youth vaulting over a bull in a dangerous sport.
This Greek fresco (5th century BC), found in an Apulian tomb, portrays a funeral dance.
Outside the ancient Roman city of Pompeii, one of the main rooms in the Villa of Mysteries is covered with frescoes like this one (c. 100 AD), thought to depict preparations for a ceremony.
Giotto's Betrayal (c.1305) from his fresco cycle in the Arena Chapel in Padua.
Botticelli's fresco of Saint Augustine, a significant Christian theologist.
Michelangelo's The Creation (1508-12) on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel is thought to be the most famous fresco in history. In this scene, Adam is being given life by God.
Diego Rivera (1886-1957) led the great mural-painting movement that flourished in Mexico following the Revolution of 1910.
