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The bare wall was first dampened and coated with a layer of coarse lime plaster, called arriccio, on which the design was drawn or brushed in red earth pigment (sinopia). The overall composition was painted in sections known as giornate—Italian for a day's work. Each of these sections was composed of a smooth plaster layer called intonaco. Pigments diluted in water were applied directly to the wet plaster to ensure the permanence of the painting. Embellishments applied to a dry wall—fresco a secco (secco is the Italian word for dry)—do not have the same durability, as the paint tends to flake off over time. Because fresco is vulnerable to moisture and may be damaged in a cool, damp environment, the arid Mediterranean climate is favorable for its preservation.
Citation for this page
Department of European Paintings. "Italian Painting of the Later Middle Ages: Fresco". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/fres/hd_fres.htm (October 2001)
Suggested Further Reading(s)
Find these publications in a library
Borsook, Eve. The Mural Painters of Tuscany: From Cimabue to Andrea del Sarto. 2d ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1980.
Poeschke, Joachim. Italian Frescoes: The Age of Giotto, 1280–1400. New York: Abbeville, 2005.
African Art
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