fresco

fresco (It., fresco: ‘fresh’). A method of wall painting in which powdered pigments mixed in water are applied to wet plaster freshly laid on the wall. The paint fuses with the plaster, making the picture an integral part of the wall. This technique is also called buon fresco or fresco buono (true fresco) to distinguish it from painting on dry plaster, which is called by analogy fresco secco or simply secco. Buon fresco is exceptionally permanent in dry climates, but if damp penetrates the wall, the plaster is liable to crumble and the paint with it. Consequently the art has been practised chiefly in dry countries, particularly in Italy (though less often in watery Venice), and seldom in northern Europe. The technique is of great antiquity, going back to Greek times, and it is also found outside Europe, for example in China and India. Giotto stands at the head of the glorious Italian tradition of fresco painting, and from his time many of the leading Italian masters produced their most famous works in the medium. It became less common in the 18th century and Giambattista Tiepolo was the last in the line of great Italian painters who used it. It was revived in the 19th century, notably by German painters such as the Nazarenes and Cornelius, but some notable decorators, such as Delacroix and Puvis de Chavannes, preferred to use the method of marouflage. In the 20th century the most famous exponents of fresco were the Mexican muralists Orozco, Rivera, and Siqueiros.