While walking into an Italian basilica, aside from the high vaulted ceilings and amazing acoustics, one may notice the astonishing paintings on the wall which were created hundreds of years ago, but appear with the vibrancy of a freshly painted piece. These paintings are not created from tempera, oil, or acrylic, rather they derive from the most sustainable paint there is; fresco.
Photo by Linda Paul Studio
Fresco painting was the most common technique of painting used during the Italian Renaissance. It is known for its durability and resiliency towards all natural elements. A fresco painting is created by using dry mineral pigments which is mixed with water as its medium, and applied onto wet lime-plaster. These mineral pigments are found naturally in the form of stones or rocks, washed several times, then milled down until the desire grain size is reached. The range of fresco colors comprised of mainly earth tones; yellow and red earth, raw and burnt Sienna, Verona green, dark red hematite, black charcoal, and the famous San Giovanni white. The color blue was most commonly painted onto the fresco after it has dried using a secco technique. Blue was not used often due to how expensive Lapis Lazuli was, the stone that produced blue, and the opacity of it. Due to the chemical makeup of the plaster, a binder is not required. The pigment becomes absorbed into the wet plaster, then fixes itself into the plaster’s pores as it dries.
Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper, 1494-1498
Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling, 1508-1512
The word fresco derives from the Italian adjective meaning “fresh.” That being said, a fresco painting is only considered fresco if it is completed while the plaster is still wet. This time constraint caused artists to complete only a day’s worth of work at a time, to then do the entire process all over again the following day. The great masters of art believed that fresco was extremely challenging, and not every artist had the skill to manipulate the medium in a successful manner. Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling, Raphael’s The School of Athens, and Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper are all examples of legendary fresco paintings!
Raphael’s The School of Athens, 1509-1511
Kara Harley’s Death Master Copy Fresco, 2019
This past Fall, I had the privilege of studying fresco overseas in Florence, Italy. Museums throughout Florence, such as the Uffizi Gallery and Galleria dell’ Accademia, allowed me to truly observe each painting and give it the quality time it deserves. Seeing a piece up close and personal looks completely different than it does through a screen! Through my personal experience, I learned first-hand how to successfully use fresco to create pieces that I am content with. Many mistakes were made, but without them I would not have learned that painting on top of plaster that is layered on a terracotta tile blends more smoothly than on top of a piece of styrofoam!
Kara Harley’s Libyan Sibyl Master Copy Fresco, 2019
Although it is hard to find workshops that specialize in fresco in the DC area, if you’re interested in learning how to successfully paint with fresco, watch the YouTube series on the Fresco Technique created by my fresco professor from Florence, Tiziano Lucchesi!
From Staff Contributor Kara Harley