Fresco
DEFINITION
An Italian word meaning fresh, it refers to pigments dispersed in water applied to wet plaster, and is traditionally the most common technique used for indoor mural painting, The plaster, being the only source of white, serves both as ground and binder, and also provides the lights and highlights for the finished work. Fresco painting was used in many of the early civilizations including the Minoan in Crete and throughout Europe. The highest stage of development was during the Renaissance in Catholic churches. After the 17th Century, the use of fresco declined but had a big revival in Mexico in the early 20th Century with muralists Diego Rivera, Jose Orozco, and David Siqueiros, and in the United States in the 1930s with the Federal Art Project. Sources: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"; William Kloss, "The World's Greatest Paintings" The Great Courses Guidebook.<br><br>A painting technique in which the pigments are dispersed in plain water and applied to a damp plaster wall. The wall becomes the binder, as well as the support.<br><br>Meaning "fresh" in Italian, fresco is the art of painting with pure pigments ground in water on uncured (wet) lime plaster. An ancient technique used world wide by artists of many ages and cultures. Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel is a famous example fresco painting. Durability is achieved as the pigments chemically bind with the plaster over time as it hardens to it's natural limestone state.<br><br> Wall painting in water-based paint on moist plaster, mostly from the 14th to the 16th centuries; used mostly before the Renaissance produced oil paint as a more easily handled medium.