Fresco - ("fresco" - fresh) - a technique of monumental painting with water paints on damp, fresh plaster. The primer and the fixing (binder) substance are one whole (lime), so the paints do not crumble.
The fresco technique has been known since ancient times. However, the surface of the antique fresco was polished with hot wax (a mixture of fresco with painting with wax paints - encaustic). The main difficulty of fresco painting is that the artist must begin and finish the work on the same day, before the wet lime dries. If corrections are necessary, you need to cut out the corresponding part of the lime layer and apply a new one. The fresco technique requires a steady hand, fast work and a completely clear idea of the entire composition in each of its parts.
The majority of ancient monuments of monumental painting were executed using the fresco technique: wall paintings in Pompeii, in Christian catacombs, Romanesque, Byzantine and Old Russian art.
Even in ancient times, windows and walls began to have a decisive role in the interior. The inhabitants of ancient villas generously covered them with mosaics or paintings. The so-called Pompeian style of fresco painting is widely known. The medieval interior retains the same trend - luxury of wall and floor decoration. Traditions were passed down over the centuries, and during the Renaissance, decorating interiors with fresco painting became very fashionable. For apartments of the new era, the quality of beauty, wealth and splendor became important.
Suffice it to recall the famous Camero degli Sposi bedroom in the palace of the Duke of Mantua, Louis Gonzaga. The main decoration of this room is a fresco cycle by the great early Renaissance artist Andrea Mantegna, dedicated to scenes from the life of the owner of the palace, the ruler of Mantua.
The fresco decoration of the wall acquired a very special meaning in the interiors of Renaissance palazzos. The splendor of the premises was achieved not through rich furniture, but through the decorative decoration of the walls, ceiling and floor. Fresco painting in modern interior, private or public, as decorative wall painting or as an expensive picture on the wall, is again very relevant, popular and prestigious.
The secret of the amazing charm of ancient frescoes cannot be unraveled. But you can allow yourself the joy of owning and contemplating the great art of the past, distant and near.
1. Specifics of the fresco.
Fresque - wall painting with earth paints resistant to lime and water; The base is a fresh lime mortar of sand and slaked lime, the surface of which can be smooth or granular.
The term fresco is used to describe the ancient method of painting on a wall using colored pigments diluted in water onto wet plaster. Plaster can be of two types: “primer” and “plaster”. The first is a mixture of sand and lime, the second is a mixture of lime, fine sand and the finest marble dust.
Under the influence of air, a transparent crust of insoluble lime carbonate or scale forms on the surface of the fresco, which fixes and preserves the pigments.
The word fresco is often mistakenly applied to any wall painting. The fresco technique is very ancient, but ancient texts (Vitruvius Pliny) talk about it very vaguely. At the same time, some works have been preserved from those ancient times that allow us to judge the distribution and technique of ancient frescoes.
Actually, the fresco itself, called Italian fresco or “pure fresco” (“buon fresco”), was first mentioned only in the treatise of Cennino Cennini (1437). The “Italian fresco” is close to the ancient fresco and also resembles the description of this technique given in the Byzantine “Book of Mount Athos”, published much later - only in the 18th century.
Cennini distinguishes between fresco itself (painting with pigments dissolved in water on wet plaster) and the “a secco” technique, also mentioned in other treatises (for example, in the treatise of the monk Theophilus). The a secco technique is painting on dry plaster with paints that use various binders (egg - in tempera painting; oil; glue; lime water). The painter uses the “a secco” technique for final retouching and for some colors, such as blue.
There is also a technique called “a mezzo fresco”, which consists of applying a layer of paint to a still damp or newly moistened base so that this layer does not penetrate deeply into the base. The fresco-secco technique means painting with lime water on a lime mortar moistened with slaked lime with the addition of river sand; The number of colors can be increased by adding casein.
Glue or casein painting is very close to the a secco technique; Used in antiquity, it is also found in the Middle Ages. The antique technique “stucco-lustro” used to depict marble columns stands out. It uses marble dust mixed with lime, a technique reminiscent of fresco. The fresco technique was especially popular in Italy in the 12th-15th centuries. at first glance it may seem like only a modest semblance of a mosaic.
However, this is not the case; the fresco has its own special specificity. After completing the fresco, its surface is carefully polished; sometimes a soap solution containing wax is applied to it and polished. Roman and Byzantine masters covered the fresco with a layer of varnish or wax, which gave it greater shine (Giotto also resorted to this technique). The number of layers of plaster often exceeded three and even reached seven.
Fresco painting retains its original color for a long time. If the wall is well prepared and cleaned of dirt, then the paints can only be destroyed under the influence of humidity and chemical substances suspended in the air.
The fresco technique is very difficult, so many artists prefer other wall painting techniques, especially when fresco artists are carried away by the forms characteristic of oil painting, which allows for numerous corrections and registrations.
Indeed, an artist, working on raw plaster, can neither make changes to the original project nor accurately judge the colorful tones because - as in the 16th century. wrote Vasari - “while the wall is wet, the paint shows the thing is not the same as it will be when the wall dries.” The color of the paints changes when the wall dries and their luminosity increases. Therefore, already at the beginning of work it is necessary to have a palette of “dry tones”.
Compared to other wall painting techniques, the execution of a fresco takes quite a long time and is divided into days (an artist can paint 3-4 square meters per day); “day seams” are visible on many frescoes.
The fresco constitutes an entire era in the development of painting.
Fresco is a technique of wall painting with water paints applied to wet plaster in those short tens of minutes while the solution has not yet “set” and freely absorbs the paint. Monumentalists call such a solution “ripe.” You need to paint on it easily and freely, and most importantly, as soon as the stroke of the brush loses smoothness and it begins to “harrow”, the paint stops being absorbed, and is smeared, as if “salting” the wall, you need to finish the work.
All the same, the paints will no longer stick, so fresco is one of the most labor-intensive types of painting, requiring the greatest creative effort and concentration, but also giving hours of incomparable joy. When dried, a thin transparent film is formed on the plaster, which fixes the paints, thanks to which the fresco is so durable. True, when completely dry, the brightness of the color fades somewhat. Fresco is one of the main techniques of wall painting, therefore it is closely related to architecture.
Magnificent paintings by Giotto, Michelangelo, Raphael, Rublev, Dionysius and other famous masters have survived to this day. Unfortunately, many frescoes were lost. Among them are works by Leonardo da Vinci (1452 - 1519). A brilliant artist and experimenter, he constantly strived to improve his painting technique. However, his attempt to write oil paints on the fresco soil turned out to be unsuccessful: the fresco “The Last Supper” in the refectory of the Milan monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie began to crumble soon after its creation. The destruction of Leonardo's great creation was completed by inept restorations and Napoleon's soldiers, who set up a stable in the refectory.
The greatness of the frescoes can be judged by the works of Raphael and Michelangelo. Most recently, in the personal chapel of the popes - Sistine Chapel- restoration of Michelangelo’s colossal frescoes “The Creation of the World” and “The Last Judgment” was carried out. The condition of the chapel walls was checked using the most modern electronic equipment, and the most advanced physical and chemical methods were used to analyze the chemical composition of the paints used by the artist. Restorers cleaned the surface of the paint layer with a special compound and applied a layer of acrylic varnish to the protected surface.
Monuments of Russian culture also need similar care. The efforts of artists A.P. Grekov, N.V. deserve great respect. Gusev, A.K. Krylov, who strive to preserve for posterity the ancient fresco paintings that have survived to our time.
2. Fresco technique.
Fresco painting in the art of murals was used in various eras in Egypt, Greece, Italy, and Byzantium. It reached its greatest development and perfection in Italy during the Renaissance. In Russia, examples of ancient Russian fresco painting date back to the 11th-17th centuries. Two monuments of fresco painting - the paintings of the Svetogorsk Monastery near Pskov and the Ferapontov Monastery near the city of Kirillov, made by outstanding Russian masters, are examples of the classical period of Old Russian fresco.
IN late XIX and the beginning of the 20th century. Russian artists F. A. Bruni, K. P. Bryullov, I. E. Repin, V. I. Surikov, V. M. Vasnetsov, M. V. Nesterov, M. A. Vrubel and others performed fresco painting on religious themes in cathedrals and churches in Moscow, Leningrad, Kyiv and other cities.
The durability of fresco paintings should be equal depreciation periods services of the buildings, the enclosing structures of which served as the basis for the fresco. To do this, it is necessary, in addition to observing the painting technique, to fulfill increased requirements for the quality of the bases and their preparation; to the compositions and components of plaster mortars and the technique of their application; for surface treatment of the top plaster layer; alkali resistance, light fastness and dispersion of pigments.
Brick, stone and concrete surfaces are suitable for fresco painting, subject to the following conditions: brick surfaces should not emit salts, the masonry should be made on lime or mixed mortars using pozzolanic Portland cement; Concrete surfaces made from ordinary Portland cement without special preparation are not suitable for use for fresco painting due to lime salts released from cement mortars during hardening.
Cinder concrete surfaces containing sulfur compounds are also unsuitable. In these cases, protective cladding is made by laying ceramic porous slabs with waterproof insulation or an air gap between the slabs and concrete, or by separating the plaster from the concrete and applying it to a metal mesh fixed to the frame, with the obligatory formation of an air gap 2-3 cm thick between the concrete and plaster; surfaces made of natural stone - loose limestone, tuff and sandstone - are the best bases for frescoes, but they should also be treated with bush hammer before plastering for stronger adhesion to the plaster.
For plastering under the fresco, lime mortars are used using air-conditioned building lime of the first grade with a magnesium oxide content of no more than 3%. Slaked lime is used in dough only after it has been kept for a year, and fluffed lime, after being mixed with water until it forms a dough, is kept for at least two weeks. For particularly important monumental fresco painting, it is recommended to use the purest varieties of lime, obtained by firing white marble with a calcium carbonate content (CaCO3) of about 99-99.5%.
The filler for the solution is washed river sand of various granulometric compositions depending on the purpose of the solution.
Lime dough is loaded into the mortar mixer, water is poured in and sand is added while mixing. Mix the composition until homogeneous. The prepared composition can be stored for no more than 2-3 days, protecting it from drying out. Instead of marble sand, pure quartz sand of uniform grain size with a grain size of up to 0.3 mm can be used. To obtain a very smooth front layer, marble powder is used, sifted through a sieve with 900-1600 holes/cm2.
Plaster mortars are prepared with different ratios of lime and filler, depending on the granulometric composition of the sand and the purpose of the mortar.
The surface, cleared of dirt and dust, is generously moistened on the eve of work. Wetting is repeated 1-1.5 hours before starting work.
Initially, a 5 mm thick spray is applied to the surface. Plaster primer is applied in successive layers no more than 5 mm thick each. The number of layers depends on the flatness of the surface. Each layer is leveled with a trowel. The next layer is applied after the previous one has dried (whitened).
The leveled last layer of soil is scratched with wavy horizontal lines 2 mm deep with a distance of 30 mm between them. The plaster soil is kept for 12 days, moistened with water two or three times a day, and in hot weather, in addition, covered with damp matting or burlap.
The front layer of plaster is applied with a total thickness of 10-12 mm, building up in two or three steps with a thickness of each layer of about 5 mm. When using solutions with marble powder for the front layer, the total thickness of the layer should be within 2-3mm.
Natural and artificial alkali-resistant dry pigments are used for fresco painting. The following mineral natural pigments are used: light, dark and golden ocher, burnt ocher, light and dark mummy, red lead, natural and burnt sienna, natural and burnt umber, manganese peroxide, colored slates of different colors, colored tuffs - pink, yellow and red, brown manganese, green earth (mineral volkonskoite), lapis lazuli and malachite.
Artificial alkali-resistant pigments, quite varied in color scheme, allow you to significantly expand the color possibilities of fresco painting. Thus, the following pigments have proven themselves well in painting of this type: strontium yellow, English red, cadmium red, cobalt blue, blue and green, ultramarine (sulfate), chromium oxide, emerald green, burnt bone, mars of different colors. Pigments must have a high grinding fineness (dispersity), ensuring complete envelopment of each pigment particle with a film of calcium hydroxide, followed by the formation of a continuous film of lime carbonate. To do this, the pigments are sifted through a sieve.
3. Preparatory work.
Painting on fresh plaster requires quick execution and eliminates the possibility of making corrections to a previously made painting, so painting is preceded by a number of preparatory works.
After the final composition of the painting has been decided and its sketch has been completed, a series of sketches are made in accordance with the sketch, with a careful study of the details of the painting, which will help to quickly execute the fresco, eliminating errors. Then they make cardboard - an auxiliary drawing that accurately reproduces the intended composition. The cardboard is made on the scale of the future painting and in accordance with the previously made sketch. The finished cardboard is installed in the place prepared for fresco painting, the interaction of the composition of the future fresco with the character and proportions of the building is determined, thereby creating the possibility of timely making certain corrections. For large paintings, when it cannot be completed within one day, the fresco drawing is divided into several sections. The division is made along the contours of individual parts of the composition, trying to ensure that the seam is unnoticeable and merges with the lines of the drawing.
The contours of a dissected pattern are transferred to the surface in two ways. When the cardboard is not intended to be preserved, it is cut along the division boundaries into separate patterns, which are applied as needed to the surface to be painted, determining the daily boundaries of painting and the required area of a fresh covering layer for painting the next day; if the cardboard needs to be preserved, tracing paper is removed from it, transferring the division lines onto it separate areas, and sometimes individual lines of the drawing.
Punctures are made along the division lines of the design and, using tracing paper as a stencil for gunpowder, the design is transferred to the surface by tamponing. Dry pigments are used for tamponing: coal powder, ocher. Sometimes, for a more precise job of applying a covering layer to the surface, cardboard patterns are made for the daily volume of work, using tracing paper and transferring the design onto the cardboard with gunpowder.
When performing ornamental as well as planar plot paintings, direct stencils are often used, onto which the pattern of the ornament or plot painting is printed. With carefully prepared stencils in in some cases You can also perform voluminous fresco ornamental paintings.
Colorful compositions and tools. Colorful compositions for fresco painting are prepared by grinding the necessary pigments in clean water in an approximate ratio of 1:3 (pigment: water). An external sign of a working consistency is one or two drops dripping from a raised brush.
Pigments for the compositions are pre-mixed in dry form, accurately selected by weight, until the required color tone is obtained, keeping a record of the color components and preparing such a quantity of dry mixtures, which should be enough for the entire work. At the same time, the amount of water required for various color mixtures is specified. The dry pigment mixture with water is mixed for one-day use, and colorful compositions of all the colors needed for that day are prepared. This preparation ensures continuity of work throughout the day. Ready-made colorful compositions are stored in porcelain cups. Rub the pigments with water using a chime on a marble board.
When fresco painting, only brushes with soft hair are used, since brushes with hard hair destroy fresh plaster, mixing paint compositions with the solution of the covering layer, changing the color. To rinse your brushes while working, you must have a bowl of clean water.
Fresco painting technique. On the eve of painting, usually in the afternoon, the required area of soil, moistened several times with water during the first half of the day, is covered with a solution with a total thickness of 10-12 mm, building up layer by layer in two or three steps and finishing the top layer with grout. The next day, after checking the strength of the covering surface, they begin painting. As soon as the painting area planned for a given day is completed, they begin to trim the overly applied covering layer to the ground exactly according to the template (pattern) with a knife with a short and sharp blade. Having marked the next day's painting area using a template with some reserve, apply a covering layer over the well-moistened soil, avoiding damage to the previously made painting, and cover it with wet burlap.
Subject painting using the fresco technique (the dotted line shows areas of painting within one day).
4. Technique a secco.
Fresco a secco (Italian a sekko - dry method, on dry) - painting with lime paints on dry lime plaster, previously polished with pumice. By grinding, the top film of lime carbonate is removed, opening the pores in the plaster layer. Paints for painting are rubbed with lime milk. The surface of the plaster is moistened abundantly the day before and again half an hour to an hour before the start of painting.
Paint compositions, due to their preparation with lime, turn out to be bleached, reducing the color capabilities of this type of painting, since the paintings are obtained with a weakened color. To obtain paintings that are brighter in color, a slightly modified painting technology is used using a lime primer, which is applied to the prepared plaster and abundantly moistened with water, using freshly slaked lime-boil.
Composition for lime primer (by weight).
Lime-lime is extinguished with small doses of water. The total amount of water for extinguishing should not exceed that specified in the composition. Unslaked pieces of lime are removed and replaced with new ones of equal mass; the finished composition is filtered through a sieve with 900 holes/cm2.
The composition is used no later than 5-6 hours after preparation. Longer storage makes the composition unusable, and the applied primer does not secure the painting with sufficient strength.
Apply the composition with brushes or spray guns to individual areas of the surface in sizes that ensure painting for no more than 5-6 hours. If the soil dries out during painting, it is additionally moistened with a soft brush or sprayer.
Painting on a wet lime primer is done with paints rubbed in water with the addition of freshly slaked lime in the amount necessary for whitening. When correcting the painting, the necessary areas are moistened with water, primed again with freshly prepared lime primer and the painting is repeated. For this type of painting, the same alkali-resistant pigments are used as for frescoes.
The techniques for preparing sketches, cardboards, templates and templates do not differ from the techniques used in fresco painting.
5. Fresco a secco technique.
The Italian Renaissance called painting done on fresh plaster with the abbreviated term: “a fresco”. To say: “write on fresh plaster,” the Italians said: “dipingere a fresco,” which literally means: “write on fresh.” In our country they usually say and write: “painting al fresco”, “painting al fresco”, which in translation has a completely different meaning and means: “painting on fresh air, cold."
Painting executed exclusively on fresh plaster was also called by the Italians “buon fresco” (buon fresco), i.e. true fresco, to distinguish it from another method of lime painting, called “fresco a secco” (fresco a secco), in which paints are also associated with lime in painting, but are applied to already cured lime plaster, which is only moistened with water before starting work.
This is the genuine ancient Italian terminology, which for us at present has only historical meaning. The varieties of so-called fresco painting in which lime is the binding agent should be called simply “lime painting,” just as painting in which paints are mixed with oil is called oil painting, where glue plays the same role - glue painting, etc.
History does not give us exact information about when the use of lime as a binder for painting paints first began. We must assume, however, that already in ancient times it was used the simplest way its use in painting, which consists in directly mixing it in the form of slaked lime with paints.
According to Vitruvius, the ancient Greeks were well aware of and used the binding properties of lime in plastering. Inside the building, they applied two layers of plaster to the wall, while the outer walls of the building were covered with multilayer plasters, and in both cases their surface was smoothed, which was already practiced in ancient Egypt.
The Romans, who adopted Greek culture, borrowed from the Greeks their love for decorating the external and internal walls of buildings, and along with painting walls, wall painting was also widely used, as evidenced by the surviving wall paintings of Pompeii.
Painting on fresh plaster began to acquire significant dimensions for the first time among the Romans, and depicted various scenes, landscapes, etc. The fresco painting of the Romans bears little resemblance to the Italian fresco of the Renaissance. The Romans used the binding agent for paints in wall painting, in addition to lime in its pure form, combining it with animal glue, casein (in the form of milk) or egg white, as well as glue in its pure form. To strengthen the layers of plaster themselves, milk was sometimes introduced into their solutions, or more often pumice, a substance of volcanic origin.
The history of painting on wet plaster goes back to the history of the ancient eastern kingdoms. Frescoes were widely used in ancient interiors of Greece and Rome. This method of wall decoration reached its heyday during the High Renaissance thanks to the brilliant Italian masters of that era.
Currently, the term “fresco” can be used to refer to any wall painting, regardless of its technique (secco, tempera, oil painting, acrylic paint, etc.). To denote the direct technique of fresco, the name “buon fresco” or “pure fresco” is sometimes used.
Exact date The appearance of frescoes is not known, but already during the period of the Aegean culture (2nd millennium BC), fresco painting became widespread. The availability of raw materials (lime, sand, colored minerals), the relative simplicity of painting techniques, as well as the durability of the works led to the great popularity of fresco paintings in the ancient world. In Christian art, fresco has become a favorite way to decorate the internal and (less often) external walls of a stone temple.
Fresco, which allows you to create monumental compositions organically connected with architecture, is one of the main techniques of wall painting. Plaster primer for frescoes is usually applied in several layers and consists of slaked lime, mineral fillers (quartz sand, limestone powder, crushed brick or ceramics); sometimes organic additives are included in the soil (straw, hemp, flax, etc.). Fillers protect the plaster from cracking. For frescoes, paints that do not enter into chemical compounds with lime are used. The palette of the fresco is rather restrained; Mainly natural earth pigments (ochres, umbers), as well as mars, blue and green cobalt, etc. are used, less often paints of copper origin (cabbage cabbage, etc.). Vegetable paints, cinnabar, blue, and sometimes black paints are applied to already dried plaster using glue. The fresco allows you to use the tones in their full strength, but when drying the paints fade greatly. Glazing plays an important role in the fresco, but with a large number of layers, the color weakens and fades. In addition to the fresco itself, painting on dry plaster (a secco) has been known since ancient times.
From the first centuries A.D. e. paintings close to frescoes were created among the peoples of the East (in India, Central Asia and etc.). Ancient masters completed the fresco dry using tempera. This technique was also typical for medieval frescoes, which were developed in the art of many European countries. The art of fresco experienced a new flourishing in the work of Italian masters of the Renaissance (Giotto, Masaccio, Piero della Francesca, Raphael, Michelangelo, etc.).
Since the 16th century, “pure” fresco without the use of tempera has spread in Italy. The fresco traditions later lived on in the decorative paintings of the 17th-18th centuries. In the 19th century, individual artists (representatives of the Art Nouveau style, etc.) turned to frescoes. Many progressive artists of the 20th century worked in the fresco technique (A. Borgonzoni in Italy, D. Rivera in Mexico, etc.).
A film that makes the fresco durable.
Currently, the term “fresco” can be used to refer to any wall painting, regardless of its technique (secco, tempera, oil painting, acrylic paint, etc.). To denote the direct technique of fresco, the name " buon fresco"or "pure fresco". This term first appeared in a treatise by the Italian artist Cennino Cennini (). Sometimes they paint on an already dry fresco with tempera.
Story
The exact date of the appearance of the frescoes is unknown, but already during the period of the Aegean culture (2nd millennium BC), fresco painting became widespread. This was painting with paints, where glue or casein was used as a binder, and the technique itself was close to “a secco”. The availability of raw materials (lime, sand, colored minerals), the relative simplicity of painting techniques, as well as the durability of the works led to the great popularity of fresco paintings in the ancient world. In Christian art, fresco has become a favorite way to decorate the internal and (less often) external walls of a stone temple.
Byzantium
The rules of ancient Byzantine fresco painting are described in “Erminia Dionysius Furnoagrafiot” by the icon painter Dionysius (XVII century). The scale of wall paintings carried out in Byzantium required an increase in the time of work using fresh mortar. The number of layers of plaster was reduced to two; instead of crushed marble, straw was introduced into the solution for the lower layers, and flax or tow for the upper layers, which retained moisture well. Keeping slaked lime for the solution in air for a certain amount of time helped to avoid cracks. The top layer of plaster was applied immediately to the entire area to be painted. The earliest example of Byzantine fresco painting (500-850 AD) survives in the Roman church of Santa Maria. The surface of this painting was polished in the same way as that of ancient Roman frescoes; later Byzantine artists abandoned this technique.
Ancient Rus'. Russia
Initially, Old Russian painters adhered to the fresco technique adopted in Byzantium. The plaster (gesso) applied to the wall was suitable for writing on wet surfaces for several days. This circumstance made it possible to apply the solution immediately to the entire area intended for painting. Later, the recipe for gesso changed: in 1599, Bishop Nektarios, a Greek artist who remained to live in Russia, in his manual “Typic” advises not to leave the soil on the wall “without writing” for the night or even a lunch break. Lime for gesso was intensively washed with water to remove calcium oxide hydrate (the so-called “emchuga”), which, appearing on the finished fresco, irrevocably spoiled the painting. With this treatment, the ability of lime to fix paints was reduced, and therefore the time for writing on wet paint was reduced. A similar system for preparing lime is described in Palomino's work on fresco techniques. Old Russian wall paintings were always completed with dry paints, where the binders were either egg yolk or vegetable glues. Later paintings were done entirely with egg tempera, which was replaced from the 18th century with oil paints that were completely unsuitable for wall painting.
Italian fresco
Master of the History of Isaac (attributed to Giotto). Isaac blesses Jacob. Fragment of a fresco. Assisi. Church of San Francesco, upper church. OK. 1295
Italian wall painting, like everything else art, followed Byzantine models for a long time, only at the end of the 13th century it began to gain independence.
The pure fresco technique was first described in 1447 by Cennino Cennini. One of the first cycles executed in this technique, art historians consider scenes with Isaac in the Church of San Francesco in Assisi (c. 1295), previously attributed to an unknown master, later they became attributed as the work of Giotto. The technique of pure fresco is inferior in speed compared to secco painting, but surpasses it in the richness of color nuances, since paints applied to wet plaster are fixed quite quickly; the artist has the opportunity to paint using glazes without fear of blurring the already applied paint layer. Compared to secco, raw painting is much more durable. The disadvantages of fresco include the relatively small number of paints known in the times of the old masters that were suitable for this type of painting.
After making the final decision on the composition of the painting and completing the sketch, cardboard was made. The drawing on it reproduced in all details the artist’s plan on the scale of the future painting. For large painting sizes, the surface was divided into sections - daily norms, in Italy they are called jornats. The division was made along the contours of the details of the composition, often in the area dark color so that the seam separating sections made on different days (vulta) is hardly noticeable. The contours were transferred to the preparatory layer of plaster either using cut pieces of cardboard, or to preserve the cardboard using tracing paper removed from it with a mesh applied over it. The design was applied with gunpowder through punctures in tracing paper using charcoal powder, ocher, or by pressing. The lines of the preliminary drawing were most often enhanced with sanguine. A layer of lime plaster was applied to the drawing, starting from the top of the wall, in order to avoid drips and splashes of the solution from the lower part of the painting, intonako, he signed within one day. The thickness of the intonaco applied over the three lower preparatory layers of plaster varied from 3 to 5 millimeters. According to Cennini's description, intonaco was applied to plaster moistened with water and carefully smoothed.
Working on wet plaster, the so-called “ripe mortar”, which sets in ten minutes, is quite labor-intensive and requires skill and experience: as soon as the brush, which had been sliding easily before, begins to “harrow” the base and “spread” the paint, painting stops, since the paint layer will no longer penetrate deeply into the base and will not adhere. The layer of plaster that remains unwritten is cut obliquely outwards, new part plastered to the previous layer. In fresco painting, only minor corrections are possible; it cannot be remade: bad places are simply knocked down and the painting process is repeated. When starting work, the artist must imagine what the colors he used will become after final drying (after 7 - 10 days). Usually they are greatly lightened; in order to understand how they will look after drying, the paints are applied to a material with strong absorbency (loose paper, chalk, plaster, umber). During the day, the artist paints 3-4 square meters of wall. Details were painted in dry tempera until the beginning of the 16th century. Some colors (bright greens and blues) were applied dry, since a limited number of pigments were suitable for painting on wet plaster. Upon completion of the painting, its surface is ground, sometimes polished with the application of a soap solution with wax. A similar treatment of the plaster surface was described by Leon Battista Alberti; it is possible that the old masters used it after finishing work on the fresco. Paintings by artists ranging from Giotto to Perugino have a characteristic polished surface, and later the surface of the painting became unevenly shiny - areas with images of characters’ faces were given a stronger gloss.
Since the beginning of the 16th century, fresco painting in dry tempera has almost never been used; from this moment the period of dominance of pure fresco begins ( buon fresco). All the artists of the High Renaissance worked in this manner, including Raphael, Michelangelo, and later Vasari, Tintoretto, Luca Giordano and Tiepolo. The design features of buildings erected at this time led to a decrease in the thickness of the plaster; the number of layers applied was reduced from three to two. The surface of fresco paintings becomes matte and rough. Judging by the manual written by Andrea Pozzo, later the surface of the plaster layer was specially granulated before starting work. In the Baroque era, corpus, impasto painting became popular, and from the 18th century, frescoes were painted not with water-soluble lime, but with casein-lime paints.
XVIII - XIX centuries
Casein-lime painting became widespread outside Italy - primarily in Germany and Spain. Tiepolo (partially), Troger, Günther, Azam, and Knoller worked in this technique. The period of dominance of this technology ended in early XIX century.
Notes
Literature
- Chernyshev N. M. The art of frescoes in Ancient Rus': Materials for the study of ancient Russian frescoes / Artist S. I. Kolemaskin. - M.: Art, 1954. - 104, p. - 10,000 copies.(in translation)
- Methodology for the restoration of monumental paintings from archaeological excavations. State Hermitage Museum. Laboratory of scientific restoration of monumental painting. - St. Petersburg, 2002.
- Kiplik D.I. Painting technique. - M.: Svarog and K, 1998. - ISBN 5-85791-034-4.
- Lentovsky A. M. Technology of painting materials / A. M. Lentovsky. - L.; M.: Art, 1949. - 220 p. - 5,000 copies.
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- Church of the Transfiguration on Ilyin Street in Novgorod
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If you don’t already know what a fresco is, you need to get acquainted with this amazing phenomenon. Fresco is an Italian term that translates as “fresh.” This is one of the areas of painting, with a rather interesting technique. Fresco paintings are painted onto damp, not yet completely dry plaster. As a result, lime, which is part of the plaster, turns into a calcium film, protecting the fresco from adverse effects external factors. The mixture used to cover the walls for painting frescoes is made from sand and lime. This solution is otherwise called “gesso” and it is not at all similar to modern mixtures for wall finishing.
Technique of work.
To create a fresco, paints that do not come into chemical contact with lime are used. These are natural substances such as ocher and umber, cobalt blue and green. In ancient times, paints of vegetable origin were mainly used.
Working with frescoes is very difficult, since once the plaster dries, the painting cannot be corrected. All images must be applied in a clean form, which means the work requires concentration and dexterity from the artist. Large paintings are applied in fragments because the layer of wet plaster should not dry before the drawing is completed.
In rare cases, fresco fragments are restored by carefully knocking off the lime layer and performing the procedure again. But there is a high risk of ruining the canvas by chipping off too much of the work or damaging the wall structure.
History of the fresco.
The first frescoes date back to the 2nd millennium BC. Even then, people sought to decorate houses and buildings various paintings from life and mythology. This painting technique has become popular due to its simplicity. Initially, casein was added to paints, which ensured the adhesion of the pigment to the surface. But later technology painting of walls has improved, the need to use glue has disappeared.
History is silent about the first frescoes and their authors, but the founders of this trend were representatives of the Aegean culture.
“Wet wall painting” reached its peak during the Renaissance. Italian artists have taken the art of decorating walls with frescoes to a new level, decorating story paintings walls and vaults of temples.
Antique frescoes.
In ancient times, wall paintings were applied over seven layers of plaster, which included sand and marble chips as ingredients. And to strengthen the plastered surface, the solution was mixed with milk, crushed brick and even pumice. The large number of layers was explained by the fact that the drying time of the plaster (and therefore the work on the painting) was extended. The finished works were even coated with wax to add shine and durability.
Ancient Rus' and frescoes.
The technique of fresco painting came to Russia from ancient Byzantium. Wall painting was applied to the interior walls and ceilings of temples, sometimes combining frescoes with mosaic patterns. Local artists slightly changed the composition of the gesso. The lime was treated with water in order to get rid of calcium hydrate, which could appear in the drawing in the form of corrosion. This way, the risk of irreversible damage to the painting was eliminated, but the drying time of the plaster was greatly reduced.
Italian fresco.
In Italy they took frescoes very seriously. Before applying the image to wet plaster, cardboard blanks were made. If the intended drawing was too large, it was divided into “jornats”, which were completed during the day. It was possible to divide into Jordans strictly along the contours of the elements of the picture, so that dark “seams” would not be noticeable, revealing the difference in age of the parts of the fresco.
It was in Italy that layers of plaster that had not yet been coated with paint began to be cut off obliquely and outward, plastering the deformed area with a new layer.
In order to represent the colors of the painting after drying, the artist applied the design to absorbent materials such as chalk or plaster. This way it was possible to evaluate the results of the work in advance, taking into account the fading factor of the painting.
Modern frescoes.
The frescoes have not been forgotten to this day. They are used in interior compositions and are even produced on an industrial scale. 3D frescoes that convey images in volume are gaining enormous popularity.
Fresco - (from Italian fresco - fresh), painting on wet plaster with paints diluted in water. One of the wall painting techniques. (Large encyclopedic dictionary)
Fresco (from Italian fresco - fresh) - painting on wet plaster, one of the wall painting techniques, the opposite of a secco (painting on dry). When dry, the plaster forms a film that makes the fresco durable. (Wikipedia)
Fresco (according to TSB) is a technique of painting with paints (on clean or lime water) on fresh, damp plaster, which, when dried, forms a thin transparent film of crystalline calcium carbonate, fixing the paints and making the fresco durable; A fresco is also called a work made using this technique. Fresco, which allows you to create monumental compositions organically connected with architecture, is the main technique of wall paintings.
Plaster (soil) is usually made up of 1 part slaked lime, 2 parts mineral fillers (quartz sand, limestone powder or crushed brick), sometimes with organic additives (straw, hemp, flax, etc.) that protect the soil from cracking. Paints that do not combine with lime are suitable for frescoes. The palette of the fresco is rather restrained; Mainly earthy natural pigments are used (ochre, umber), as well as mars, blue and green cobalt, etc., less often paints of copper origin (cabbage cabbage, etc.), as well as cinnabar. All blue and black paints (less often others) are applied to already dry plaster using glue. The fresco allows you to use tones in all their strength, but when writing you have to take into account that the paints dry out greatly. Glazing plays an important role in frescoes, however, with a large number of colorful layers, the color weakens and fades. In addition to the fresco itself, painting on dry plaster (a secco) has been known since ancient times.
Fresco (according to the Russian Humanitarian encyclopedic dictionary) - a monument, painting on fresh, damp plaster with paints of a rather restrained palette (earth pigments, cobalts, etc.) using water or waters as a binder. lime solution. When combined with the plaster material (wall or ceiling), a thin, almost eternal layer of paint is formed, although the paints fade when dry. The fresco technique does not allow corrections during the work; they can only be made later using tempera. The fresco is done in parts, using cardboard for individual parts compositions. Works made using this technique are known in Aegean art (2nd millennium BC), and were developed in ancient culture(frescoes of interiors in Pompeii have been preserved), then in the art of Byzantium, Bulgaria, Serbia, Georgia, Italy, etc. In Italy, 16th century. The "buon fresco" technique became widespread - without tempera corrections. The traditions of frescoes were continued in paintings of the 17th and 18th centuries, and in the 19th century. - in the German Nazarene school, in modern art, in the 20th century. - in Mexican monument, painting, etc.
What is a fresco? Translated from Italian word fresco means "fresh", "undried". In fact, this concept is associated with the unique art of temple wall painting, the special technique of which requires the highest skill. The “fresco on the wall” technique is painting on raw affresco plaster. It is the opposite of asecco, painting on a dry surface. When plaster painted with frescoes dries, a thin film based on calcareous calcium is formed, which serves as a natural protection for the design. Thus, the image becomes literally eternal.
Variety of ways
Today, the "wall fresco" method is used to create drawings of a sacred nature inside the church, regardless of the technique or material with which the artist works. There are several methods that the master adheres to in his work. “The fresco on the ceiling” is the most difficult; it can only be painted while lying down.
There are technologies when a secondary additional painting is done on a finished, dried fresco with tempera, oil or acrylic paints. The most common fresco painting technique is the so-called buon fresco, which means "pure fresco". The first mention of this method contains a treatise by the Italian painter Cennino Cennini, who lived in the 15th century.
History of wall paintings
It is unknown when the first frescoes appeared; one can only assume that in the era of the Aegean culture, in the second millennium BC, similar images already existed in abundance. The paints were applied to a primitive base reminiscent of casein glue, and the drawing technique defies any classification, it is only clear that it was closer to “asekko”. Fresco painting flourished in the ancient period. Later, Christianity adopted this art, since it was the frescoes of the cathedral or church that most fully reflected biblical scenes.
Materials
What is a fresco from the point of view of the artist himself? This is, first of all, a delicate, jewelry work of the brush. Church frescoes are distinguished by the elaboration of the most small parts. An artist can paint one subject for weeks, sometimes it seems that the work stands still, so meticulous is the painter’s work. But when the fresco is finished, it is impossible to take your eyes off it.
In ancient times, mixed wall painting was in use in Rus'; the main material was water-based paints, which were applied to wet plaster and then supplemented with tempera on animal or vegetable glue, sometimes egg.
In Europe, people began to understand what fresco was with the beginning of the Renaissance. It was the church walls that became the main measure of the artist’s skill. The art of fresco painting reached its greatest flowering in Italy during the Renaissance. Great masters such as Michelangelo and Raphael worked in this field.
Antique frescoes
The treatises of Vitruvius describe the technology of plastering interior walls, on which fresco paintings were later applied. These were lime-based mixtures, applied in seven layers and smoothed to a shine. Sand was added to the first two layers, clay composite was added to the next three, and marble chips were added to the top two layers. To avoid cracks, the plaster was slightly diluted with water, and all layers were compacted.
For strength, reinforcing components, crushed brick, pumice, straw and hemp were added to the mixture. Multi-layer application of plaster contributed to slow drying, which gave the artist the opportunity to paint for a long time. Then, upon completion of the work, it was recommended to cover the frescoes with a mixture of olive oil and beeswax.
Byzantine frescoes
The most labor-intensive painting process is described in “Erminia Dionysius” in the 17th century. Frescoes in Byzantium were distinguished by their variety and size. The plaster dried before the work was done. The number of layers was gradually reduced, and eventually only two layers were used instead of seven. Instead of marble powder, flax and tow began to be introduced, which retained moisture well. Cracks were removed by adding quicklime. The earliest Byzantine fresco painting is in the Church of St. Mary in Rome. The surface of the drawings was polished, and later Byzantine artists abandoned this labor-intensive process.
Old Russian frescoes
Early Russian fresco painting was done in the Byzantine manner. Wet plaster was used for four days. The artists used this time to paint murals throughout the area. However, just in four days, the primer for the frescoes, gesso, acquired undesirable properties, and when paints were applied to it, it irreversibly spoiled them due to its reaction with turpentine fillers.
The painting time had to be sharply reduced. In the instructions of Bishop Nektary, it is recommended not to leave the gesso “without writing” for two hours and not to take breaks for lunch. And still, the completion of the work often coincided with the complete drying of the base. The last strokes were made with egg tempera, and already in the 18th century frescoes began to be painted with oil paints. It is characteristic that the frescoes of Rublev, a famous icon painter, as well as Theophan the Greek, his contemporary, were painted only with tempera paints.
Frescoes of Italian origin
What is a "buon" fresco? Literally it means "pure". In other words, this is a multi-layer application of paint layers with intermediate drying. This technique is advantageous in terms of speed, but it loses in the nuances of color solutions.
After some time, fresco painting became gradual. Dried works were painted over with tempera paints “dry”, and this technique was fully justified, since artists had the opportunity to divide their work into separate segments and slowly complete the work, knowing that the factor of quickly drying plaster no longer mattered.
"Clean" technique
Using the “buon” method, a whole system was developed, a kind of guide by which the artist achieved the optimal result. The entire fresco, if its size was at least two square meters, was divided into separate sections, the norms of one day, the so-called jornata. In addition, the work was planned in height so that when painting the upper areas it would not splash the lower areas. Some frescoes were created using other technologies. Since the 15th century, there was a so-called mosaic fresco, which was not painted, but laid out with small pieces of smalt or semi-precious stones.
Upon completion of painting, the fresco must be polished, often with the application of a wax layer. The paintings of Perugino and Giotto were always polished to a shine, which gave them a unique image. Tintoretto and Tiepolo worked in the same manner of fresco painting.
