Frescography (from
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
''fresco'' – ''painting onto "fresh" plaster'' +
Greek ''graphein'' – to write) is a method for producing murals digitally on paper, canvas, glass or tiles, invented in 1998 by German muralist
Rainer Maria Latzke. Frescography uses
CAM and
digital printing methods to create murals.
History of mural reproduction techniques
The frescography is based on a similar technique as the
woodblock printing method of the French Papier Peints wallpapers, used by manufacturers like
Zuber et cie or
Joseph Dufour et Cie, who began developing the procedure during the end of the 18th century. These
wallpaper manufacturers used thousands of engraved woodblocks for the creation of the panorama sceneries, to create wall paper such as the 20-panel
Sauvages de la Mer du Pacifique which
Jean-Gabriel Charvet designed for
Joseph Dufour et Cie or the “du Vue de l'Amérique Nord” designed in 1834 by
Zuber et cie for the
Diplomatic Reception Room of the
White House, where it is still today.
The principle of frescography

Unlike
woodblock printing, the frescography is based on digitally cut-out motifs which are stored in a
database
In computing, a database is an organized collection of data or a type of data store based on the use of a database management system (DBMS), the software that interacts with end users, applications, and the database itself to capture and a ...
. To avoid having to work with high-resolution files on software such as
Photoshop (resulting in long rendering and processing time), new
CAM software programs like the Dreamworlds Design Studio allow the composition of mural designs by working with preview files which are later converted to the original resolution. By adding the exact measurements of a wall when starting a new project and even taking architectural elements such as doors windows or beams into consideration, the design will result in an accurate, tailor-fit, wall mural.
Once a design is finished, the low-resolution motifs are converted into the original high-resolution images and are printed on
wide-format printers. Unlike the woodblock print consisting of stripes, the frescography is printed on a single piece of
canvas, allowing a seamless mural tailor-fit to the walls dimensions. Once produced, the canvas is applied to the wall in a
wall-paper-like procedure.
Since the motifs can be placed freely and scaled to the individual wall measurements, the finished piece will look like it was created on-site.
Institute of Frescography
In 2009 the inventor of the frescography technique, Professor
Rainer Maria Latzke, founded the
Institute of Frescography (IOF) at
Utah State University in
Logan,
Utah
Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...
. The IOF is a
non-profit institution whose mission is the improvement of public knowledge and interest in the art of mural and
fresco painting. It also researches on
art history
Art history is the study of Work of art, artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history.
Tradit ...
,
digital reproduction
Reproduction (or procreation or breeding) is the biological process by which new individual organisms – "offspring" – are produced from their "parent" or parents. There are two forms of reproduction: Asexual reproduction, asexual and Sexual ...
,
printing processes and materials, and
restoration techniques of mural art.
In cooperation with the German Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte, the IOF provides online access to the collection a 40,000 images
archive
An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials, in any medium, or the physical facility in which they are located.
Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organ ...
of European wall and mural
paintings which have been compiled in the last years of World War II on direct order of Adolf Hitler to preserve the images for a later reconstruction in case of war damages. It also offers free online access to the institute's “World of Ornaments”: an archive of European wall and mural paintings that covers the period between the
Gothic ages to the end of the 19th century. This archive consists of 5,000 motifs based on the two greatest
encyclopedic collections of ornaments from the 19th-century
chromo-lithographic tradition: Auguste Racinet's L“'Ornement
polychrome Volumes I and II“ from 1875 to 1888 and “M. Dupont-Auberville's L'Ornement des tissus” from 1877.
The IOF also is participating in
museum and exhibition projects of mural and fresco art.
Applications of frescographies

Frescographies can be found in the Lanner Lehar Hall of the
Vienna town hall or the world's largest cruising ship, ''
Royal Clipper''.
Material and printers
Since frescography is based on digital printing methods, various materials ranging from canvas, ceramics, or glass to
PVC, depending on the material the printer supports. One of the most commonly used materials is Digimura FINO 300gsm. This is mainly due to its fine-grain surface finish, which is ideal for both high-end graphics and art photography. The paper's fine raised rivulets also make it extremely well-suited to frescographies in large spaces and ambient backdrops. Commonly frescographies are printed on
Wide-format printers such as Efi's Vutek printer.
[{{cite web, url=http://www.efi.com/products/production/superwide/vutek/ , title=Vutek wide-format printer , publisher=Efi.com , date= , accessdate=2013-06-23]
References
External links
Virtual Design Studio
Printing software
Printmaking
Decorative arts