Knowra Fresco Fresco A wall painting made on freshly applied, wet lime plaster, which binds the pigments into the surface as it dries. The technique is known as buon fresco.
Buon fresco : A fresco technique in which pigments are applied to wet lime plaster and become bound as it dries. This is the wet-plaster method that defines fresco.
Arriccio : A coarse first coat of plaster applied to a wall before the smoother painting layer. It forms the preparatory surface beneath the fine coat that receives paint.
Sistine Chapel ceiling : Michelangelo’s painted ceiling in the Sistine Chapel, completed between 1508 and 1512. Its large-scale biblical scenes are among the best-known frescoes.
Giotto : An Italian painter and architect whose work helped shape the development of Renaissance art. His Scrovegni Chapel frescoes are a defining achievement of the medium.
Mural : A large image painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling, or other permanent surface. Fresco is one durable method of making a mural.
Fresco secco : A wall-painting technique in which pigments are applied to dry plaster, usually with a binding medium. It contrasts with fresco’s bonding of pigment into wet plaster.
Intonaco : The smooth, final plaster layer on which a fresco is painted. Fresh intonaco is the immediate surface for a buon fresco.
The Last Supper (Leonardo) : Leonardo da Vinci’s mural of Christ’s final meal with his disciples, painted in Milan in the 1490s. Leonardo used an experimental mixed technique rather than durable buon fresco.
Michelangelo : An Italian Renaissance artist known for sculpture, painting, architecture, and poetry. His Sistine Chapel ceiling is a landmark cycle painted in fresco.
Mexican muralism : A Mexican art movement that used large public murals to represent national history and social change. Its artists adapted fresco for public, political storytelling.
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