Fresco

{{short description|Mural painting upon freshly laid lime plaster}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
[[File:Creación de Adán (Miguel Ángel).jpg|thumb|350px|''[[The Creation of Adam]]'', a detail of the fresco [[Sistine Chapel ceiling]] by [[Michelangelo]]]]

'''Fresco''' ({{plural abbr|'''frescos'''}} or '''frescoes''') is a technique of [[mural]] painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") [[lime plaster]]. [[Water]] is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting becomes an integral part of the wall. The word ''fresco'' ({{lang-it|affresco}}) is derived from the Italian adjective ''fresco'' meaning "fresh", and may thus be contrasted with [[fresco-secco|fresco-secco or secco]] mural painting techniques, which are applied to dried plaster, to supplement painting in fresco. The fresco technique has been employed since antiquity and is closely associated with [[Italian Renaissance painting]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Conservation of Wall Paintings |author1=Mora, Paolo |author2=Mora, Laura |author3=Philippot, Paul |publisher=[[Butterworth–Heinemann|Butterworths]] |year=1984 |isbn=0-408-10812-6 |pages=34–54}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The GroveEncyclopedia of Materials and Techniques in Art |editor=Ward, Gerald W. R. |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-19-531391-8 |pages=223–5}}</ref>

The word ''fresco'' is commonly and inaccurately used in English to refer to any wall painting regardless of the plaster technology or binding medium. This, in part, contributes to a misconception that the most geographically and temporally common wall painting technology was the painting into wet lime plaster. Even in apparently ''[[buon fresco]]'' technology, the use of supplementary organic materials was widespread, if underrecognized.<ref name="Piqué 2015 p. ">{{cite book | last=Piqué | first=Francesca | title=Organic materials in wall paintings : project report | publisher=Getty Conservation Institute | publication-place=Los Angeles | year=2015 | isbn=978-1-937433-29-1 | oclc=944038739 | page=}}</ref>

==Technology==
[[File:Etruskischer Meister 002.jpg|thumb|[[Etruscan civilization|Etruscan fresco]]. Detail of two dancers from the [[Tomb of the Triclinium]] in the [[Necropolis of Monterozzi]] 470 BC, [[Tarquinia]], [[Lazio]], Italy]]
''[[Buon fresco]]'' [[pigment]] is mixed with room [[temperature]] water and is used on a thin layer of wet, fresh [[plaster]], called the [[intonaco]] (after the Italian word for plaster).  Because of the chemical makeup of the plaster, a [[binder (material)|binder]] is not required, as the pigment mixed solely with the water will sink into the [[intonaco]], which itself becomes the medium holding the pigment. The pigment is absorbed by the wet plaster; after a number of hours, the plaster dries in reaction to air: it is this chemical reaction which fixes the pigment particles in the plaster.
The chemical processes are as follows:<ref>{{cite book |title=Conservation of Wall Paintings |author1=Mora, Paolo |author2=Mora, Laura |author3=Philippot, Paul |publisher=[[Butterworth–Heinemann|Butterworths]] |year=1984 |isbn=0-408-10812-6 |pages=47–54}}</ref>
* [[calcination]] of [[limestone]] in a [[lime kiln]]: [[Calcium Carbonate|CaCO<sub>3</sub>]] → [[Calcium oxide|CaO]] + [[Carbon dioxide|CO<sub>2</sub>]]
* [[Slaking (geology)|slaking]] of [[Calcium oxide|quicklime]]: [[Calcium oxide|CaO]] + [[Water|H<sub>2</sub>O]] → [[Calcium hydroxide|Ca(OH)<sub>2</sub>]]
* [[Calcium hydroxide#Properties|setting]] of the [[lime plaster]]: [[Calcium hydroxide|Ca(OH)<sub>2</sub>]] + [[Carbon dioxide|CO<sub>2</sub>]] → [[Calcium Carbonate|CaCO<sub>3</sub>]] + [[Water|H<sub>2</sub>O]]

[[File:Giovane-seduto.JPG|thumb|A [[Roman art|Roman fresco]] of a young man from the Villa di Arianna, [[Stabiae]], 1st century AD.]]
In painting ''buon fresco'', a rough underlayer called the ''arriccio'' is added to the whole area to be painted and allowed to dry for some days. Many artists sketched their compositions on this underlayer, which would never be seen, in a red pigment called [[sinopia]], a name also used to refer to these under-paintings.  Later,{{when|date=December 2010}}new techniques for transferring paper drawings to the wall were developed.  The main lines of a drawing made on paper were pricked over with a point, the paper held against the wall, and a bag of soot (''spolvero'') banged on them to produce black dots along the lines. If the painting was to be done over an existing fresco, the surface would be roughened to provide better adhesion.  On the day of painting, the intonaco, a thinner, smooth layer of fine plaster was added to the amount of wall that was expected to be completed that day, sometimes matching the contours of the figures or the landscape, but more often just starting from the top of the composition.  This area is called the ''giornata'' ("day's work"), and the different day stages can usually be seen in a large fresco, by a faint seam that separates one from the next.

''Buon frescoes'' are difficult to create because of the deadline associated with the drying plaster.  Generally, a layer of plaster will require ten to twelve hours to dry; ideally, an artist would begin to paint after one hour and continue until two hours before the drying time—giving seven to nine hours' working time.  Once a ''giornata'' is dried, no more ''buon fresco'' can be done, and the unpainted intonaco must be removed with a tool before starting again the next day.  If mistakes have been made, it may also be necessary to remove the whole intonaco for that area—or to change them later, ''a secco''.
An indispensable component of this process is the [[carbonatation]] of the lime, which fixes the colour in the plaster ensuring durability of the fresco for future generations.<ref>[http://www.italian-frescos.com/come-nasce-un-affresco-strappato-da-muro/?lang=en How is a fresco made? - Fresco Blog] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170518012902/http://www.italian-frescos.com/come-nasce-un-affresco-strappato-da-muro/?lang=en |date=18 May 2017 }} by Italian Fresco Blog.</ref>

A technique used in the popular frescoes of Michelangelo and Raphael was to scrape indentations into certain areas of the plaster while still wet to increase the illusion of depth and to accent certain areas over others. The eyes of the people of the [[School of Athens]] are sunken-in using this technique which causes the eyes to seem deeper and more pensive. Michelangelo used this technique as part of his trademark 'outlining' of his central figures within his frescoes.

In a wall-sized fresco, there may be ten to twenty or even more ''giornate'', or separate areas of plaster.  After five centuries, the ''giornate'', which were originally nearly invisible, have sometimes become visible, and in many large-scale frescoes, these divisions may be seen from the ground.  Additionally, the border between giornate was often covered by an ''a secco'' painting, which has since fallen off.

One of the first painters in the post-classical period to use this technique was the Isaac Master (or Master of the Isaac fresco, and thus a name used to refer to the unknown master of a particular painting) in the Upper [[Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi|Basilica of Saint Francis]] in [[Assisi]]. A person who creates fresco is called a frescoist.

==Other types of wall painting==
[[File:Giotto di Bondone - No. 18 Scenes from the Life of Christ - 2. Adoration of the Magi - WGA09195.jpg|thumb|Fresco by [[Giotto]], [[Scrovegni Chapel]] in Padua. Sky and blue mantle of Maria were painted ''a secco'', and large part of the painting is now lost]]
A [[fresco-secco|secco or fresco-secco]] painting is done on dry plaster (''secco'' meaning "dry" in Italian).  The pigments thus require a binding medium, such as [[egg (food)|egg]] ([[tempera]]), glue or [[oil painting|oil]] to attach the pigment to the wall.  It is important to distinguish between ''a secco'' work done '''on top''' of ''buon fresco'', which according to most authorities was in fact standard from the Middle Ages onwards, and work done entirely ''a secco'' on a blank wall.  Generally, ''buon fresco'' works are more durable than any ''a secco'' work added on top of them, because ''a secco'' work lasts better with a roughened plaster surface, whilst true fresco should have a smooth one.  The additional ''a secco'' work would be done to make changes, and sometimes to add small details, but also because not all colours can be achieved in true fresco, because only some pigments work chemically in the very [[alkaline]] environment of fresh lime-based plaster.  Blue was a particular problem, and skies and blue robes were often added ''a secco'', because neither [[azurite]] blue nor [[lapis lazuli]], the only two blue pigments then available, works well in wet fresco.<ref>All this section - Ugo Procacci, in ''Frescoes from Florence'', pp. 15–25 1969, Arts Council, London.</ref>

It has also become increasingly clear, thanks to modern analytical techniques, that even in the early Italian Renaissance painters quite frequently employed ''a secco'' techniques so as to allow the use of a broader range of pigments.  In most early examples this work has now entirely vanished, but a whole painting done ''a secco'' on a surface roughened to give a key for the paint may survive very well, although damp is more threatening to it than to ''buon fresco''.

A third type called a ''mezzo-fresco'' is painted on nearly dry intonaco—firm enough not to take a thumb-print, says the sixteenth-century author Ignazio Pozzo—so that the pigment only penetrates slightly into the plaster. By the end of the sixteenth century this had largely displaced ''buon fresco'', and was used by painters such as [[Gianbattista Tiepolo]] or [[Michelangelo]].  This technique had, in reduced form, the advantages of ''a secco'' work.

The three key advantages of work done entirely ''a secco'' were that it was quicker, mistakes could be corrected, and the colours varied less from when applied to when fully dry—in wet fresco there was a considerable change.

For wholly ''a secco'' work, the intonaco is laid with a rougher finish, allowed to dry completely and then usually given a key by rubbing with sand. The painter then proceeds much as he or she would on a canvas or wood panel.

==History==
[[File:Tomb 100 Hierakompolis, Naqada II culture (c. 3500-3200 BCE).jpg|400px|thumb|Reproduction of the earliest known fresco, Tomb 100, [[Hierakonpolis]], [[Naqada II]] culture, Egypt ({{Circa|3500–3200 BCE}})]]
[[File:Investiture_of_Zimri-Lim_Louvre_AO19826_n01.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|''[[Investiture of Zimri-Lim]]'', Syria, fresco painted {{Circa|1770 BCE}}]] [[File:Fresco of a fisherman, Akrotiri, Greece.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|''The Fisherman'', [[Minoan civilization|Minoan]] [[Bronze Age]] fresco from [[Akrotiri (prehistoric city)|Akrotiri]], on the [[Aegean Sea|Aegean]] island of [[Santorini]] (classically Thera), dated to the Neo-Palatial period ({{Circa|1640–1600 BC}}). The settlement of Akrotiri was buried in volcanic ash (dated by [[radiocarbon dating]] to {{Circa|1627 BC}}) by the [[Minoan eruption]] on the island, which preserved many Minoan frescoes like this]]
[[File:Velia Velcha Orcus II.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.9|[[Etruscan art|Etruscan]] fresco of Velia Velcha from the [[Tomb of Orcus]], [[Tarquinia]]]]

=== Egypt and Ancient Near East ===
The first known Egyptian fresco was found in Tomb 100 at [[Hierakonpolis]], and dated to {{Circa|3500–3200 BC}}. Several of the themes and designs visible in the fresco are otherwise known from other [[Naqada II]] objects, such as the [[Gebel el-Arak Knife]]. It shows the scene of a "[[Master of Animals]]", a man fighting against two lions, individual fighting scenes, and Egyptian and foreign boats.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Case |first1=Humphrey |last2=Payne |first2=Joan Crowfoot |title=Tomb 100: The Decorated Tomb at Hierakonpolis |journal=The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology |date=1962 |volume=48 |page=17 |doi=10.2307/3855778 |jstor=3855778 |issn=0307-5133}}</ref><ref name="IS">{{cite book |last1=Shaw |first1=Ian|author-link=Ian Shaw (Egyptologist) |title=Ancient Egyptian Warfare: Tactics, Weaponry and Ideology of the Pharaohs |date=2019 |publisher=Open Road Media |isbn=978-1-5040-6059-2 |page=22 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0q_CDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT22 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Kemp |first1=Barry J. |title=Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a Civilisation |date=2007 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-56389-0 |page=94 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FpqBAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA94 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Bestock |first1=Laurel |title=Violence and Power in Ancient Egypt: Image and Ideology before the New Kingdom |date=2017 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-85626-8 |page=94 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sFQ7DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT94 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="MKH424">{{cite book |last1=Hartwig |first1=Melinda K. |title=A Companion to Ancient Egyptian Art |date=2014 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-118-32509-4 |page=424 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gF24BQAAQBAJ&pg=PA424 |language=en}}</ref> Ancient Egyptians painted many tombs and houses, but those wall paintings are not frescoes.<ref>Nina M. Davies: ''Ancient Egyptian paintings, Vol. III'', Chicago, 1963, p. xxxi [https://oi.uchicago.edu/sites/oi.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/shared/docs/paintings3.pdf?gathStatIcon=true online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220510090552/https://oi.uchicago.edu/sites/oi.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/shared/docs/paintings3.pdf?gathStatIcon=true |date=10 May 2022 }}</ref>

An old fresco from [[Mesopotamia]] is the ''[[Investiture of Zimri-Lim]]'' (modern [[Syria]]), dating from the early 18th century BC.

=== Aegean civilizations ===

The oldest frescoes done in the ''buon fresco'' method date from the first half of the second millennium BCE during the [[Bronze Age]] and are to be found among [[Aegean civilizations]], more precisely [[Minoan art]] from the island of [[Crete]] and other islands of the [[Aegean Sea]]. The most famous of these, the ''[[Bull-Leaping Fresco]]'', depicts a sacred ceremony in which individuals jump over the backs of large bulls. The oldest surviving Minoan frescoes are found on the island of [[Santorini]] (classically known as Thera), dated to the Neo-Palatial period ({{Circa|1640–1600 BC}}).

While some similar frescoes have been found in other locations around the Mediterranean basin, particularly in Egypt and Morocco, their origins are subject to speculation. Some art historians believe that fresco artists from Crete may have been sent to various locations as part of a trade exchange, a possibility which raises to the fore the importance of this art form within the society of the times. The most common form of ''fresco'' was [[Egypt]]ian wall paintings in [[tomb]]s, usually using the ''a secco'' technique.

===Classical antiquity===
[[File:The so-called Sappho portrait, Pompeii (AD 45-79).jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|Fresco of "[[Sappho]]" from [[Pompeii]], {{Circa|50 CE}}]]

Frescoes were also painted in [[ancient Greece]], but few of these works have survived. In southern Italy, at [[Paestum]], which was a [[Greek colony]] of the [[Magna Graecia]], a tomb containing frescoes dating back to 470 BC, the so-called [[Tomb of the Diver]], was discovered in June 1968. These frescoes depict scenes of the life and society of ancient Greece, and constitute valuable historical testimonials. One shows a group of men reclining at a [[symposium]], while another shows a young man diving into the sea. [[Etruscan art|Etruscan]] frescoes, dating from the 4th century BC, have been found in the [[Tomb of Orcus]] near [[Veii]], Italy.
[[File:Kazanluk 1.jpg|thumb|right|[[Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak]] frescoes, 4th century BC]]
The richly decorated [[Thracians|Thracian]] frescoes of the [[Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak|Tomb of Kazanlak]] are dating back to 4th century BC, making it a [[UNESCO]] protected [[World Heritage Site]].
[[File:Thrace-ostrusha.jpg|250px|thumb|right|View of a woman's face in the central chamber of the [[Ostrusha mound]] built in the 4th century BC in [[Bulgaria]]]]
[[Roman Empire|Roman]] wall paintings, such as those at the magnificent Villa dei Misteri (1st century BC) in the ruins of [[Pompeii]], and others at [[Herculaneum]], were completed in ''buon fresco.''

Roman (Christian) frescoes from the 1st to 2nd centuries AD were found in catacombs beneath Rome, and Byzantine icons were also found in [[Cyprus]], [[Crete]], [[Ephesus]], [[Cappadocia]], and [[Antioch]]. Roman frescoes were done by the artist painting the artwork on the still damp plaster of the wall, so that the painting is part of the wall, actually colored plaster.

Also a historical collection of Ancient Christian frescoes can be found in the [[Churches of Göreme]].

===India===
[[File:Indischer Maler des 6. Jahrhunderts 001.jpg|thumb|Fresco from the [[Ajanta Caves]] built and painted during the [[Gupta Empire]] in the 6th century AD]]

Thanks to large number of ancient rock-cut cave temples, valuable ancient and early medieval frescoes have been preserved in more than 20 locations of India.<ref>[http://www.wondermondo.com/Best/As/IndMedCavePaint.htm Ancient and medieval Indian cave paintings - Internet encyclopedia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180624064956/http://www.wondermondo.com/Best/As/IndMedCavePaint.htm |date=24 June 2018 }} by Wondermondo. Retrieved 4 June 2010.</ref>
The frescoes on the ceilings and walls of the [[Ajanta Caves]] were painted between {{Circa|200 BC and 600}} and are the oldest known frescoes in India. They depict the [[Jataka]] tales that are stories of the [[Gautama Buddha|Buddha]]'s life in former existences as [[Bodhisattva]]. The narrative episodes are depicted one after another although not in a linear order. Their identification has been a core area of research on the subject since the time of the site's rediscovery in 1819. Other locations with valuable preserved ancient and early medieval frescoes include [[Bagh Caves]], [[Ellora Caves]], [[Sittanavasal]], [[Armamalai Cave]], [[Badami Cave Temples]] and other locations. Frescoes have been made in several techniques, including tempera technique.

The later [[Chola]] paintings were discovered in 1931 within the circumambulatory passage of the [[Brihadisvara Temple]] in India and are the first Chola specimens discovered.

Researchers have discovered the technique used in these frescos. A smooth batter of limestone mixture was applied over the stones, which took two to three days to set. Within that short span, such large paintings were painted with natural organic pigments.

During the [[Thanjavur Nayak|Nayak]] period, the Chola paintings were painted over. The Chola frescos lying underneath have an ardent spirit of [[saivism]] expressed in them. They probably synchronised with the completion of the temple by [[Rajaraja Cholan]] the Great.

The frescoes in [[Dogras|Dogra]]/ Pahari style paintings exist in their unique form at [[Sheesh Mahal, Ramnagar|Sheesh Mahal]] of Ramnagar (105&nbsp;km from [[Jammu]] and 35&nbsp;km west of Udhampur). Scenes from epics of [[Mahabharat]] and [[Ramayan]] along with portraits of local lords form the subject matter of these wall paintings. [[Rang Mahal (Chamba)|Rang Mahal]] of Chamba ([[Himachal Pradesh]]) is another site of historic [[Dogri]] fresco with wall paintings depicting scenes of ''Draupti Cheer Haran'', and ''Radha- Krishna Leela''. This can be seen preserved at National Museum at New Delhi in a chamber called ''Chamba Rang Mahal''.

During the Mughal Era, frescos were used for making interior design on walls and inside the ceilings of domes.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.536426 | title=Lahore Its History, Architectural Remains and Antiquities | year=1892 }}</ref>
[[File:The intricate roof work.jpg|thumb|The ceiling of Begum Shahi mosque in Lahore with Mughal style frescos]]

===Sri Lanka===
[[File:Sigiriya ladies.jpg|thumb|right|Sigiriya Fresco, Sri Lanka. {{Circa|477 – 495 AD}}]] 
[[File:Church of Deir Mar Musa 03.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|Frescos in the [[Monastery of Saint Moses the Abyssinian]], [[Syria]]]]
The Sigiriya Frescoes are found in [[Sigiriya]] in [[Sri Lanka]]. Painted during the reign of [[Kashyapa I of Anuradhapura|King Kashyapa I]] (ruled 477 – 495 AD). The generally accepted view is that they are portrayals of women of the royal court of the king depicted as celestial nymphs showering flowers upon the humans below. They bear some resemblance to the Gupta style of painting found in the [[Ajanta Caves]] in [[India]]. They are, however, far more enlivened and colorful and uniquely Sri Lankan in character. They are the only surviving secular art from antiquity found in Sri Lanka today.{{citation needed|date=November 2018}}

The painting technique used on the Sigiriya paintings is "fresco lustro". It varies slightly from the pure fresco technique in that it also contains a mild binding agent or glue. This gives the painting added durability, as clearly demonstrated by the fact that they have survived, exposed to the elements, for over 1,500 years.<ref>{{cite book|last=Ponnamperuma|first=Senani|title=Story of Sigiriya|date=2013|publisher=Panique Pty Ltd|location=Melbourne|isbn=9780987345110}}</ref>

Located in a small sheltered depression a hundred meters above ground only 19 survive today. Ancient references, however, refer to the existence of as many as five hundred of these frescoes.

===Middle Ages===
[[File:Boyana Church Mural Paintings.jpg|upright=0.9|right|thumb|Interior view with the frescoes dating back to 1259, [[Boyana Church]] in [[Sofia]], [[UNESCO]] [[World Heritage List]] landmark.]]
[[File:044 Absis de Sant Climent de Taüll, el Crist en majestat.jpg|upright=0.9|right|thumb|[[Pantocrator]] from [[Sant Climent de Taüll]], in [[MNAC Barcelona]]]]
[[File:Beli andjeo2.jpg|upright=0.9|right|thumb|[[Myrrhbearers]] on Christ's Grave, c 1235 AD, [[Mileševa monastery]] in [[Serbia]]n]]
The late [[Medieval]] period and the [[Renaissance]] saw the most prominent use of fresco, particularly in Italy, where most churches and many government buildings still feature fresco decoration. This change coincided with the reevaluation of murals in the [[liturgy]].<ref>{{cite journal| url = https://www.academia.edu/8526688| title = Péter Bokody, ''Mural Painting as a Medium: Technique, Representation and Liturgy'', Image and Christianity: Visual Media in the Middle Ages, Pannonhalma Abbey, 2014, 136-151| journal = Péter Bokody (Ed.). Image and Christianity: Visual Media in the Middle Ages. Exhibition Catalog. Pannonhalma: Pannonhalma Abbey, 2014| date = January 2014| last1 = Bokody| first1 = Peter}}</ref> [[Romanesque church]]es in [[Catalonia]] were richly painted in 12th and 13th century, with both decorative and educational—for the illiterate faithfuls—roles, as can be seen in the [[Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya|MNAC]] in [[Barcelona]], where is kept a large collection of Catalan romanesque art.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Español|first1=Francesca|last2=Yarza|first2=Joaquín|others=Fotografies de Ramon Manent, Pere Pascual i Rosina Ramírez|title=El romànic català|date=2007|publisher=Angle Editorial|location=Barcelona|isbn=9788496970090|edition=1.|language=ca}}</ref> In Denmark too, [[Church frescos in Denmark|church wall paintings]] or ''kalkmalerier'' were widely used in the Middle Ages (first Romanesque, then Gothic) and can be seen in some 600 Danish churches as well as in churches in the south of Sweden, which was Danish at the time.<ref>[http://www.natmus.dk/cons/walls/chrchpnt.htm Kirsten Trampedach, "Introduction to Danish wall paintings - Conservation ethics and methods of treatment from the National Museum of Denmark"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091124021603/http://www.natmus.dk/cons/walls/chrchpnt.htm |date=24 November 2009 }}. Retrieved 2 March 2010.</ref>

One of the rare examples of [[Islamic]] fresco painting can be seen in [[Qasr Amra]], the desert palace of the Umayyads in the 8th century Magotez.

===Early modern Europe===
Fresco painting continued into the [[Baroque]] in southern Europe, for churches and especially palaces.  [[Gianbattista Tiepolo]] was arguably the last major exponent of this tradition, with huge schemes for palaces in Madrid and [[Würzburg Residence#Staircase|Würzburg]] in Germany.

Northern [[Romania]] (historical region of [[Moldavia]]) boasts about a dozen [[Churches of Moldavia|painted monasteries]], completely covered with frescos inside and out, that date from the last quarter of the 15th century to the second quarter of the 16th century. The most remarkable are the monastic foundations at [[Voroneț Monastery|Voroneţ]] (1487), [[Arbore]] (1503), [[Humor Monastery|Humor]] (1530), and [[Moldovița Monastery|Moldoviţa]] (1532). [[Sucevița Monastery|Suceviţa]], dating from 1600, represents a late return to the style developed some 70 years earlier. The tradition of painted churches continued into the 19th century in other parts of Romania, although never to the same extent.<ref>Anca Vasiliu, "Monastères de Moldavie (XIVème-XVIème siècles)", Paris Mediterranée, 1998</ref>

Henri [[Clément Serveau]] produced several frescos including a three by six meter painting for the ''Lycée de [[Meaux]]'', where he was once a student. He directed the ''École de fresques'' at {{Lang|fr|l'[[École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts]]|italic=no}}, and decorated the ''Pavillon du Tourisme'' at the 1937 {{Lang|fr|[[Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne]]|italic=no}} (Paris), ''Pavillon de la Ville de Paris''; now at [[Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris]].<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.pop.culture.gouv.fr/notice/memoire/00258615| title = Ministère de la Culture (France) - Médiathèque de l'architecture et du patrimoine, Exposition internationale des arts et techniques de 1937}}</ref> In 1954 he realized a fresco for the Cité Ouvrière du Laboratoire Débat, Garches.<ref>{{Base Mérimée|IA00048574|Cité ouvrière du Laboratoire Débat}}</ref> He also executed mural decorations for the ''Plan des anciennes enceintes de Paris'' in the [[Musée Carnavalet]].<ref name="Waterhouse & Dodd">{{Cite web |url=http://www.waterhousedodd.com/clement-serveau |title=Waterhouse & Dodd Fine Art 1850-2000 |access-date=15 December 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120711040559/http://www.waterhousedodd.com/clement-serveau |archive-date=11 July 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The [[Foujita chapel]] in [[Reims]] completed in 1966, is an example of modern frescos, the interior being painted with religious scenes by the [[School of Paris]] painter [[Tsuguharu Foujita]]. In 1996, it was designated an historic monument by the French government.

===Mexican muralism===
[[José Clemente Orozco]], [[Fernando Leal (artist)|Fernando Leal]], [[David Siqueiros]] and [[Diego Rivera]] the famous Mexican artists, renewed the art of fresco painting in the 20th century.  Orozco, Siqueiros, Rivera and his wife [[Frida Kahlo]] contributed more to the history of Mexican fine arts and to the reputation of Mexican art in general than anybody else. Channeling pre-Columbian Mexican artworks including the true frescoes at Teotihuacan, Orozco, Siqueiros, River and Fernando Leal established the art movement known as ''[[Mexican Muralism]]''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Mexican Muralism {{!}} Modern Latin America |url=https://library.brown.edu/create/modernlatinamerica/chapters/chapter-3-mexico/moments-in-mexican-history/mexican-muralism/ | author=Sophie Friedman |website=Brown University Library}}</ref>

===Contemporary===
There have been comparatively few frescoes created since the 1960s but there are some significant exceptions.

The American artist, Brice Marden's monochrome works first shown in 1966 at Bykert Gallery, New York were inspired by frescos and "watching masons plastering stucco walls."<ref>[https://brooklynrail.org/2006/10/art/brice-marden  Brooklyn Rail] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211005194006/https://brooklynrail.org/2006/10/art/brice-marden |date=5 October 2021 }} "Brice Marden with Jeffrey Weiss", October 2006.</ref> While Marden employed the imagistic effects of fresco, [[David Novros]] was developing a 50-year practice around the technique. David Novros is an American painter and a muralist of geometric abstraction. In 1968 Donald Judd commissioned Novros to create a work at 101 Spring Street, New York, NY soon after he had purchased the building.<ref>[https://juddfoundation.org/index-of-works/no-title-101-spring-street-1970/ Judd Foundation] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211005194005/https://juddfoundation.org/index-of-works/no-title-101-spring-street-1970/ |date=5 October 2021 }} "Index of works- David Novros", 2013.</ref> Novros used medieval techniques to create the mural by "first preparing a full-scale cartoon, which he transferred to the wet plaster using the traditional pouncing technique," the act of passing powdered pigment onto the plaster through tiny perforations in a cartoon.<ref>Matthew L. Levy, "David Novro’s Painted Places", in David Novros, exh. Cat. (Bielefeld: Kerber, 2014),50.</ref> The surface unity of the fresco was important to Novros in that the pigment he used bonded with the drying plaster, becoming part of the wall rather than a surface coating. This site-specific work was Novros's first true fresco, which was restored by the artist in 2013.

The American painter, [[James Hyde (artist)|James Hyde]] first presented frescoes in New York at the Esther Rand Gallery, Thompkins Square Park in 1985. At that time Hyde was using true fresco technique on small panels made of cast concrete arranged on the wall. Throughout the next decade Hyde experimented with multiple rigid supports for the fresco plaster including composite board and plate glass. In 1991 at John Good Gallery in New York City, Hyde debuted true fresco applied on an enormous block of Styrofoam. Holland Cotter of the New York Times described the work as "objectifying some of the individual elements that have made modern paintings paintings."<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1993/03/12/arts/art-in-review-884293.html? Holland Cotter,New York Times] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211005194004/https://www.nytimes.com/1993/03/12/arts/art-in-review-884293.html |date=5 October 2021 }} "Art in Review", March 1993.</ref> While Hyde's work "ranges from paintings on photographic prints to large-scale installations, photography, and abstract furniture design" his frescoes on Styrofoam have been a significant form of his work since the 1980s.<ref>[https://www.gf.org/fellows/all-fellows/james-hyde/ Guggenheim, John Simon Memorial Foundation] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211005194006/https://www.gf.org/fellows/all-fellows/james-hyde/ |date=5 October 2021 }} ''Awarded Fellows'', 2008.</ref>

The frescoes have been shown throughout Europe and the United States. In ArtForum David Pagel wrote, "like ruins from some future archaeological dig, Hyde's nonrepresentational frescoes on large chunks of Styrofoam give suggestive shape to the fleeting landscape of the present."<ref>[https://www.artforum.com/print/reviews/199310/james-hyde-54400 David Pagel, "James Hyde, Angles Gallery"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211005194003/https://www.artforum.com/print/reviews/199310/james-hyde-54400 |date=5 October 2021 }} ''Art Forum'', December 1993.</ref> Over its long history, practitioners of frescoes always took a careful methodological approach. Hyde's frescoes are done improvisationally. The contemporary disposability of the Styrofoam structure contrast the permanence of the classical fresco technique. In 1993, Hyde mounted four automobile sized frescoes on Styrofoam suspended from a brick wall. Progressive Insurance commissioned this site-specific work for the monumental 80- foot atrium in their headquarters in Cleveland, Ohio.<ref>[https://www.progressive.com/about/art/installations/ Progressive Insurance, "Installations- James Hyde"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211005194005/https://www.progressive.com/about/art/installations/ |date=5 October 2021 }} ''Progressive Insurance'', 1993.</ref>

==Selected examples of frescoes==
[[File:DomenichinounicornPalFarnese.jpg|thumb|right|''Virgin and Unicorn (A Virgin with a Unicorn)'', [[Palazzo Farnese]] by [[Domenichino]] {{circa|1602}}]]
[[File:Simberg, fresco The Wounded Angel.jpg|thumb|right|''The Wounded Angel'', [[Tampere Cathedral]] by [[Hugo Simberg]] (1873–1917)]]
[[File:FERNANDO LEAL Miracles of the Virgin of Guadalupe, Fresco Mexico City.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|[[Fernando Leal (artist)|Fernando Leal]], ''Miracles of the Virgin of Guadalupe'', Fresco Mexico City]]
[[File:Prometheus (1930) de José Clemente Orozco en Pomona College.jpg|thumb|''[[Prometheus (Orozco)|Prometheus]]'', [[Pomona College]] by [[José Clemente Orozco]] 1930]]

=== Ancient and Early Medieval ===
* [[List of Aegean frescos|Ancient Aegean frescoes]]
* [[Etruscan art#Wall-painting|Etruscan tomb frescoes]]
* [[Pompeian Styles|Frescoes of Pompeii]]
* [[Catacombs of Rome#Gallery of paintings from the catacombs of Rome|Frescoes from the Roman catacombs]] (see also [[Early Christian art and architecture]])
* [[Castelseprio (archaeological park)|Castelseprio]]

=== Bulgaria ===
* [[Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Sofia]]
* [[Bachkovo Monastery]]
* [[Boyana Church]]
* [[Church of St. George, Sofia]]
* [[Rila Monastery]]
* [[Rock-hewn Churches of Ivanovo]]
* [[Roman Tomb (Silistra)]]
* [[Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak]]
* [[Thracian tomb of Aleksandrovo]]
* [[Transfiguration Monastery]]

=== Colombia ===
* [[Santiago Martinez Delgado]] frescoed a mural in the Colombian Congress Building, and also in the Colombian National Building.

=== Czechia ===
* [[Rotunda of Saint Catherine]] in [[Znojmo]]

=== France ===
* [[Saint-Esprit, Paris]]

=== Italy ===
==== Late Medieval-Quattrocento ====
* Panels (including Giotto(?), Lorenzetti, Martini and others) in upper and lower [[Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi]]
* [[Giotto di Bondone|Giotto]], [[Cappella degli Scrovegni]] (Arena Chapel), [[Padua, Italy|Padua]]
* ''Camposanto'', [[Pisa]]
* [[Tommaso Masaccio|Masaccio]], [[Brancacci Chapel]], Santa Maria del Carmine, [[Florence]]
* [[Ambrogio Lorenzetti]], [[Palazzo Pubblico]], [[Siena]]
* [[Piero della Francesca]], Chiesa di San Francesco, [[Arezzo]]
* [[Domenico Ghirlandaio|Ghirlandaio]], ''[[Cappella Tornabuoni]]'', [[Santa Maria Novella]], Florence
* ''[[The Last Supper (Leonardo)|The Last Supper]]'', [[Leonardo da Vinci]], Milan (technically a [[tempera]] on plaster and stone, not a true fresco<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.bringyou.to/apologetics/LeonardoLastSupper.htm| title = Restoration of the Last Supper 1498 - Leonardo da Vinci 1452-1519 - The Last Supper St. Apostle John Comparison<!-- Bot generated title -->| access-date = 29 October 2021| archive-date = 27 November 2020| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201127014127/http://www.bringyou.to/apologetics/LeonardoLastSupper.htm| url-status = dead}}</ref>)
* [[Sistine Chapel]] Wall series: [[Sandro Botticelli|Botticelli]], [[Pietro Perugino|Perugino]], [[Rossellini]], [[Luca Signorelli|Signorelli]], and [[Domenico Ghirlandaio|Ghirlandaio]]
* [[Luca Signorelli]], Chapel of San Brizio, Duomo, [[Orvieto]]

==== High Renaissance ====
{{See also|High Renaissance}}

* [[Michelangelo]], [[Sistine Chapel ceiling]]
* [[Raphael]], [[Raphael Rooms]]
* [[Raphael]], [[Villa Farnesina]]
* [[Giulio Romano]]'s [[Palazzo del Tè]], Mantua
* [[Andrea Mantegna|Mantegna]], [[Camera degli Sposi]], [[Palazzo Ducale di Mantova|Palazzo Ducale]], [[Mantua]]
* The dome of the [[Florence Cathedral]]
* [[The Loves of the Gods (Carracci)|The Loves of the Gods]], [[Annibale Carracci]], [[Palazzo Farnese]], Rome
* [[Allegory of Divine Providence and Barberini Power (Cortona)|Allegory of Divine Providence and Barberini Power]], [[Pietro da Cortona]], [[Palazzo Barberini]]
* Ceilings, [[Giovanni Battista Tiepolo]], (New Residenz) Würzburg, (Royal Palace) Madrid, (Villa Pisani) Stra, and others; Wall scenes (Villa Valmarana and Palazzo Labia)
* Nave ceiling, [[Andrea Pozzo]], Sant'Ignazio, Rome

=== Mexico ===
* [[Fresco Cycle of The Miracles of the Virgin of Guadalupe]] by Fernando Leal, at [[Basilica of Guadalupe]], [[Mexico City]]
* [[Fresco Cycle of Bolivar's Epic]] by Fernando Leal, at [[Colegio de San Ildefonso]], Mexico City
: {{a note}} ''Fresco cycle, a series of frescos done about a particular subject''

=== Serbian Medieval ===
* [[Visoki Dečani]]
* [[Gračanica monastery]]
* [[Studenica monastery]]
* [[Mileševa monastery]]

=== United States ===
* ''[[Prometheus (Orozco)|Prometheus]]'' in [[Pomona College]]'s Frary Dining Hall. Painted in 1930 by [[José Clemente Orozco]], it is the first example of a modern, Mexican fresco mural in the U.S.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Scott |first1=David W. |title=Orozco's Prometheus: Summation, Transition, Innovation |journal=[[College Art Journal]] |date=1957 |volume=17 |issue=1 |pages=2–18 |doi=10.2307/773653 |jstor=773653 |issn=1543-6322}}</ref>
* [[St. Ann's Church Complex (Woonsocket, Rhode Island)|St. Ann Arts and Cultural Center]] in Woonsocket, RI. Home of the largest collection of fresco paintings in North America.

==Conservation of frescoes==
{{main|Conservation and restoration of frescos}}
The climate and environment of [[Venice]] has proved to be a problem for frescoes and other works of art in the city for centuries. The city is built on a lagoon in northern Italy. The humidity and the rise of water over the centuries have created a phenomenon known as rising damp. As the lagoon water rises and seeps into the foundation of a building, the water is absorbed and rises up through the walls often causing damage to frescoes. Venetians have become quite adept in the conservation methods of frescoes. The mold [[aspergillus versicolor]] can grow after flooding, to consume nutrients from frescoes.<ref name= Bennettjw>{{cite book |author= Bennett JW|year=2010|chapter=An Overview of the Genus ''Aspergillus''|chapter-url=http://www.open-access-biology.com/aspergillus/aspergillusch1.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110409144644/http://www.open-access-biology.com/aspergillus/aspergillusch1.pdf |archive-date=2011-04-09 |url-status=live|title=''Aspergillus'': Molecular Biology and Genomics|publisher=Caister Academic Press|isbn= 978-1-904455-53-0}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author=Orio Ciferri|title=Microbial Degradation of Paintings|journal=Applied and Environmental Microbiology|date=March 1999|volume=65|pages=879–885|pmc=91117|pmid=10049836|issue=3|doi=10.1128/AEM.65.3.879-885.1999|bibcode=1999ApEnM..65..879C}}</ref>

The following is the process that was used when rescuing frescoes in [[La Fenice]], a Venetian opera house, but the same process can be used for similarly damaged frescoes. First, a protection and support bandage of cotton gauze and polyvinyl alcohol is applied. Difficult sections are removed with soft brushes and localized vacuuming. The other areas that are easier to remove (because they had been damaged by less water) are removed with a paper pulp compress saturated with bicarbonate of ammonia solutions and removed with deionized water. These sections are strengthened and reattached then cleansed with base exchange resin compresses and the wall and pictorial layer were strengthened with barium hydrate. The cracks and detachments are stopped with lime putty and injected with an epoxy resin loaded with micronized silica.<ref>Ciacci, Leonardo., ed, La Fenice Reconstructed 1996&ndash;2003: a building site in the city,
(Venezia: Marsilio, 2003),118.</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery mode="packed" heights="154" caption="''Frescos''">
File:Chola fresco.png|Chola Fresco of Dancing girls. [[Brihadisvara Temple]] c. 1100
File:Mari fresco Investiture Zimri Lim 0210.jpg|18th-century BC fresco of the ''[[Investiture of Zimrilim]]'', [[Royal Palace of Mari|Royal Palace]] of ancient [[Mari, Syria]]
File:Abbatiale de Saint-Antoine l'Abbaye, chapelle 2, bas du mur est, 9424 edit.jpg|On the left, Anthony the Great, crucifixion with the Virgin and Saint John, on the right, the Archangel Michael. Abbey church of Saint-Antoine l'Abbaye, France
File:Abbatiale de Saint-Antoine l'Abbaye, chapelle 2, mur ouest, 9484 edit.jpg|"Good-natured giant Saint Christopher carrying the child Jesus." Abbey church of Saint-Antoine l'Abbaye, France
File:Holy Cross Chapel, frescoes.jpg|Chapel of the Holy Cross in [[Wawel Cathedral]] in [[Kraków]]
File:Ferapontov.jpg|Fresco by [[Dionisius]] representing [[Saint Nicholas]] in [[Ferapontov Monastery]]
File:Dante Domenico di Michelino.jpg|[[Dante]] in [[Domenico di Michelino]]'s ''[[Divine Comedy]]'', [[Florence Cathedral]]
File:Church St Georg Rotunda IMG 0547.jpg|Byzantine and Bulgarian, [[Dome]] of the [[Church of St. George, Sofia]]
</gallery>

==See also==
{{portal|Visual arts}}
* [[Church frescos in Denmark]]
* [[Church frescos in Sweden]]
* [[Gambier Parry process]]
* [[Haveli]]
* [[Kandyan period frescoes]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Frescos}}
* [http://www.smith.edu/hsc/museum/ancient_inventions/hsc16b.htm Museum of Ancient Inventions: Roman-Style Fresco, Italy, 50 AD]
* [http://www.library.upenn.edu/collections/sasia/mbw/sri_lanka/Sri%20Lanka%20Lecture%20Pages/frescoes.htm Sigiriya Frescoes, The Mary B. Wheeler Collection, University of Pennsylvania Library] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130826033550/http://www.library.upenn.edu/collections/sasia/mbw/sri_lanka/Sri%20Lanka%20Lecture%20Pages/frescoes.htm |date=26 August 2013 }}

{{Art world}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Fresco painting|*Fresco]]
[[Category:Painting materials]]
[[Category:Painting techniques]]
[[Category:Plastering]]
[[Category:Wallcoverings]]