Fresco Painting in Art History

The word fresco comes from the Italian word "affresco" which means "fresh" and refers to a painting style done on plaster walls and ceilings. Frescoes were often made during the Renaissance and we just learned about them in Art History this week while we examined the artist Giotto- the first in a line of great artists who contributed to the Italian Renaissance. Giotto is best known for the frescoes adorning the walls of the Arena Chapel in Padua, Italy, painted in 1305 (pictured). Fresco is a challenging medium - it does not allow for errors or corrections and is time sensitive, therefore requiring an adequate level of artistic and technical skill. This is due to the fact that fresco is done on wet, fresh plaster... once the pigment is absorbed by the wet plaster, the plaster dries and reacts with the air, fixing the pigment particles in the plaster (making it quite durable!).

We created our own mini frescoes in the past two Art History classes. Yesterday, we mixed dry plaster with water and poured it into a plastic plate to set until today. Believe it or not, the plaster was still cool and damp about 24 hours later, making it the perfect surface for a fresco!

In the Renaissance, artists couldn't just go to Michael's Arts and Crafts store to buy their supplies- they had to make them (or else their apprentices made them). Artists created powdered pigment by grinding up minerals and mixed it with a bonding agent needed to adhere the paint to the wall. They often used egg yolk for this purpose. We created our own "egg tempera" paint today by separating the yellow from the white, then poking a hole to drain the yellow into a bowl. We added powdered tempera (purchased from Michael's, not ground up from minerals!) and a little water and stirred until smooth:

Fresco painters in the Renaissance would transfer their drawings onto the plaster by poking small holes in their cartoon (sketch) and pouncing charcoal onto it, leaving the pattern of dots on the plaster. We did the same thing with an outline of the Renaissance beauty, Mona Lisa:

With the plaster set, the cartoon transferred to the plaster and the egg tempera mixed and ready, it was time to paint our mini masterpieces! They kids had a great time experimenting with this classic painting technique:

(As you can see, not all Monas turned out Mona-like, but that wasn't the point. The goal was to get a feel for the challenges of using this medium... and there were many!)