Fresco-secco (or a secco or fresco finto) is a

wall A wall is a structure and a surface that defines an area; carries a load; provides security, shelter, or soundproofing; or, is decorative. There are many kinds of walls, including: * Walls in buildings that form a fundamental part of the s ...

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and a ...

technique where pigments mixed with an organic binder and/or lime are applied onto a dry

plaster Plaster is a building material used for the protective or decorative coating of walls and ceilings and for moulding and casting decorative elements. In English, "plaster" usually means a material used for the interiors of buildings, while "re ...

. The paints used can e.g. be casein paint, tempera,

oil paint Oil paint is a type of slow-drying paint that consists of particles of pigment suspended in a drying oil, commonly linseed oil. The viscosity of the paint may be modified by the addition of a solvent such as turpentine or white spirit, and ...

, silicate mineral paint. If the pigments are mixed with lime water or lime milk and applied to a dry plaster the technique is called lime secco painting. The secco technique contrasts with the

fresco Fresco (plural ''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 plast ...

technique, where the painting is executed on a layer of wet plaster. Because the pigments do not become part of the wall, as in buon fresco, fresco-secco paintings are less durable. The colors may flake off the painting as time goes by, but this technique has the advantages of a longer working time and retouchability. In Italy, fresco technique was reintroduced around 1300 and led to an increase in the general quality of mural painting. This technological change coincided with the realistic turn in Western art and the changing liturgical use of murals. The treatise ''Silparatna'' by Kumaradeva (8th century) gives an account of the fresco-secco painting technology in detail. According to this text, a picture should be painted with appropriate colours, along with proper forms and sentiments ( rasas), and moods and actions (''bhavas''). White, yellow, red, black and terre verte are pointed out in the text as pure colors. Different shades were also prepared from these original colors. Five types of brushes with various shapes and size (flat, long, medium, etc.) made of animal hair and grass fibre are also recommended. Specialist painter and decorators still use this technique to great effect in the world of interior design e.g. faux marble.

Notable fresco-secco artists

Giotto Giotto di Bondone (; – January 8, 1337), known mononymously as Giotto ( , ) and Latinised as Giottus, was an Italian painter and architect from Florence during the Late Middle Ages. He worked during the Gothic/ Proto-Renaissance period. G ...

* June McEwan, Scottish artist who recreates historic Scottish interiors. * Beohar Rammanohar Sinha, artist from India whose frescoes ornamentate the walls and gigantic dome of the ''Shaheed-Smarak'' or India's Martyrs' Memorial Auditorium. Episodes, accomplishments and landmark-events in India's struggle for independence are depicted. Maharani Durgavati

* Rudolph F. Zallinger - whose '' Age of Mammals'', a mural painted from 1961 to 1967 on the south wall of the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, is painted in this style.

External links

The fresco technique

References

Fresco painting Painting techniques {{Painting-stub

Notable fresco-secco artists

See also

External links

References