The Fresco Process

Fresco was a crucial step in advancing human artistic expression in European history, as masters of the process were able to create works so compelling and long-lived that they still vibrantly capture our imagination today even in some of Italy’s oldest churches. The process utilizes a reaction between a cement-like lime/sand mixture (intonaco) and mineral based pigments. Once the intonaco is spread smooth, the artist has a small window of time to paint onto the wet wall before it dries. In this way the wall is almost as much of the painting as the paint itself, becoming one work. Any large and highly detailed frescos, like the Sistine Chapel, are actually done small parts at a time, with little sections of the intonaco being spread just before the artist is ready to paint the section to completion.

The beauty of this process exists in the unpredictability of removing the painting as some of the work is often lost, while characteristics of the wall become part of the canvas. This allows pieces to take on a life of their own outside of the artist’s control.