Fresco is a technique of painting on wet or dry plaster using paints and brushes. In the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, the method of painting only on wet plaster was used, which, after drying, formed a film, which made the fresco durable. Today, a fresco in the interior is called any wall painting using paints, brushes and an airbrush, which makes installation work easier.
In a modern interior you can find a fresco in different techniques and with different patterns, which can be applied not only to plaster, but also to another base. This design option is suitable for a classic interior, where all the canons of decoration and furniture are observed, as well as for modern design.
Types of frescoes
Today it is not necessary to invite an artist to paint the walls; it is enough to order a modern fresco, which contains only natural ingredients, such as sand mixture, lime, paints, and adhesive mixture. The drawing can be made from a photo or sketch. There is a large selection of frescoes for the interior, such as: on plaster, on non-woven fabric, on canvas, on self-adhesive and on a rigid basis.
The photo shows an interior with a thematic fresco from the life of the Middle Ages, which occupies two walls of a spacious dining room in a classical style.
Plaster based
A wall fresco based on plaster is suitable for a classic interior. The technique is close to creating ancient frescoes. It is made of plaster based on a mounting mesh. The drawing is applied with paints. It is attached to the wall or ceiling with glue, the edges are decorated with plaster, so the design looks like it has been poured into the wall.
Painting on non-woven fabric is done using a photo wallpaper printer. After applying a drawing or photo, the image is aged. It can be applied to slightly uneven walls using non-woven photo wallpaper technology. Such a fresco can be made on an entire wall with a landscape of distant Venice or Paris.
This type is very popular. Plaster is applied to the canvas, then drawing. After this, the artificial aging method and wax coating are applied. It can be made from an exclusive photo, or be standard, framed or without. A fresco without a frame can be glued to the wall using wallpaper glue. Dust must be removed only using a dry method.
The photo shows a fresco that, in composition with arches, creates an imitation of an open balcony. For such an interior, the walls should be neutral in color.
Self-adhesive
The self-adhesive fresco is produced using digital technology. Sand is applied to the finished photo of the required size on the front side and self-adhesive film on the other. Such a fresco can be glued to a rubbed and degreased surface of the ceiling or wall. The wallpaper is similar to the photo and, due to its thin thickness, does not hide the defect in the walls.
On a rigid basis
Painting is done on a rigid base, which is limited in size (maximum parameter 3x1.5 meters). Printed on a hard prepared board, it can be framed in the interior, or simply glued to the wall.
Application of the finished fresco and location
An elastic fresco, which is similar to photo wallpaper, is attached with glue and looks organically with the wall; the version on a rigid base will have protrusions like a painting.
Algorithm for applying the canvas:
- Carry out preparatory work to level the surface of the wall, it should be smooth, take measurements of the fresco and surface.
- Apply glue for non-woven photo wallpaper to the wall and the back of the painting, which will then become soft, so it is important not to break it.
- Glue and remove bubbles from under the canvas. The irregularities will go away after drying.
Wall location
Like photo wallpaper, frescoes in interiors are most often used for wall decoration. Its size can be of any format and shape, from square to ellipse. In a large room it can occupy the entire wall.
Ceiling location
In order to decorate the ceiling, you can use painting together with stucco molding made of plaster or polyurethane. The ceiling should be high so that it does not “press” the pattern on the walls.
As decoration
As decoration, you can decorate ledges, niches, columns. You can decorate frescoes in the interior using frames and moldings.
The photo shows a fresco with a reproduction of Michelangelo’s painting “The Creation of Adam”, which decorates the niche above the stairs. This option is suitable for a classic interior.
Features of application in styles
When choosing the size of the fresco and its theme, you need to start from the size of the room, the arrangement of furniture and the style solution.
Modern
For a modern interior, a fresco with abstraction, geometry, and simple patterns with color transitions is suitable. Subject images are also suitable, especially for children.
Classical
For classics, reproductions of world masterpieces of painting, images of flowers, and still life are suitable. The color scheme remains neutral. Of all types of painting, they are suitable on canvas, on plaster, or on a rigid base. In a classic interior, white or gold frames play an important role, so you can use them.
In the photo, a fresco based on plaster in pastel shades depicting the natural ensemble of the castle looks unobtrusive and gentle in a light classic interior.
Provence
Provence style can be emphasized with the help of a colored fresco with pastel flowers or a lavender field. A large image requires a separate wall that will not be cluttered with furniture. The fresco will become the accent of the entire room, so it is important not to overload the interior with additional decorative elements.
Combination with other materials
Finishing materials that work well with painting include plaster, matte paint, wallpaper, and stone. Venetian plaster together with the image looks harmonious and natural in the interior. Decorative plaster (liquid wallpaper) is also suitable. When gluing non-woven wallpaper, you need to use high-quality glue. It is better that the wallpaper is without ornament or large pattern.
Choice of design and image
A pattern can be used to divide a room into zones or create an accent. You need to choose the theme of the image based on the style of the room. For a classic interior, you can use famous paintings, stylized portraits from photos, historical panoramas, flowers, the face of a saint. You can also make an iconostasis from frescoes. For the ceiling, a picture of the sky with clouds, flying birds or angels is suitable.
In the photo, the image of the sky and the stucco edging on the ceiling create an imitation of a window and make the interior airy. This design is suitable for low or dark rooms.
In a modern interior, abstract paintings are suitable, where the emphasis is on shape and color. Also popular are images simulating the view from a window or balcony of a city panorama or the beach. The pattern of branches and flowers can be in both pastel and bright shades.
Decor of the premises in the apartment
Kitchen
For the interior of the kitchen and dining room, still life, imitation of the view from the window, fruit, and flower arrangements are suitable. To create an emphasis on the dining area, you can use a view of the forest, mountains, or waterfall.
In the photo, the fresco on the stone accent wall of the kitchen looks organic due to the successful selection of the pattern and good artificial lighting.
Living room
In the interior of the living room you can use a picture with a plot, a photo of the old city, or your portrait. In a classic living room, frames would be appropriate, and in a country style, stone edging would be appropriate. The color scheme should match the overall concept of the room.
Bedroom
For the bedroom interior, a picture of clouds on the ceiling, angels, flowers in pastel shades, seascapes that will help you relax is suitable. It is inappropriate to depict people or subjects here due to cumbersomeness.
In the photo, the wall at the head of the bed in a classic-style bedroom is decorated with paintings on non-woven fabric and white false polyurethane columns. The contrast with the color of the walls blends harmoniously into the interior.
Hallway
For a narrow hallway you need to use a light fresco along the wall. To decorate a corridor without a window, an image of an open window with a view of nature is suitable.
Children's
In the interior of a children's room, the painting should be understandable to the child. This could be the plot of a fairy tale, a cartoon character. It is best for the fresco to be opposite the bed so that the baby can look at it before going to bed.
Photo gallery
The modified fresco has been preserved as decor and is popular in the interior. Modern frescoes are easy to work with without the involvement of an artist. Author's decor or a fresco from a photo will create a unique interior. Below are examples of the use of frescoes in rooms for various functional purposes.
Perhaps no one needs to explain what a fresco is. Every schoolchild will say that this is a painting technique on wet plaster. The art of fresco painting is thousands of years old. Masters of many countries and eras chose this method of realizing their artistic ideas. Thanks to the unique properties of the fresco, today we have the opportunity to contemplate images created several centuries ago. We invite you on an exciting journey across countries and continents to look at the most famous frescoes in the world.
1. Frescoes of the Knossos Palace. Crete, Greece, late 17th - early 16th centuries. BC e.
The Palace of Knossos is an outstanding and most popular monument of Cretan architecture, which in Greek myths was called a labyrinth. The walls of the palace chambers are covered with exquisite frescoes. The predominant colors of the images are red and black. The detailed depiction of some faces on the frescoes led scientists to believe that the artists painted them from life. Among the frescoes of the Palace of Knossos, as in all the art of Crete, the image of a bull occupies an important place. The animal probably played an important role in the economic life of the Cretans, in their religious and mythological beliefs. One of the most famous images of the Palace of Knossos is a fresco with acrobats - boys and girls jumping over a rapidly running bull. They are all dressed the same - with bandages on their hips, their waists cinched with metal belts. Their movements are free and agile. The width of the chest, thinness of the waist, flexibility and muscularity of the arms and legs are emphasized. Apparently, these features were considered signs of beauty. It is possible that such dangerous exercises with an angry bull had not only a spectacular, but also a sacred meaning.
2. Frescoes of the Brihadishvara Temple. State Tamil Nadu, South India, beginning of the 2nd century. AD
Temple Brihadishvara, a magnificent architectural ensemble with exquisite carvings, houses the most ancient frescoes of South India. A few years ago, the Archaeological Survey Society of India discovered that the temple contains original frescoes from the Chola dynasty under the wall paintings of the sanctum. Careful restoration has revealed a unique wall painting depicting Shiva in his many magnificent poses, with his companions and dancers. One of the frescoes depicts Shiva on a giant snow-white bull. The Ox is a popular personification of the male creative force, thanks to which the existence of the Earth is continuously renewed and extended.
3. “Lamentation of Christ” by Giotto, Chapel del Arena, Padua, Italy, 1302-1305.
Giotto di Bondone was one of those talented and daring painters who destroy established stereotypes and create their own artistic space with a confident hand. Before the appearance of his paintings, Italian artists adhered to medieval canons and Byzantine painting techniques. The flat, stylized figures of such frescoes were perceived more as symbols than as real characters capable of feeling.
Painting the Chapel del Arena in Padua, Giotto completely abandoned the medieval principles of depiction and created three-dimensional, almost tangible images that turn a dispassionate contemplator into an active participant in biblical events. The artist connected 38 scenes from the lives of the Virgin Mary and Christ into a single whole, presenting the Gospel stories as real events and thereby creating a majestic epic cycle.
Above the entrance to the building there is a fresco “The Last Judgment” - the central image of the chapel and one of the most striking creations of the master. All the characters in the picture are involved in the action, the location and gestures of each can be understood and logically explained. The characters are drawn with extraordinary precision, and the details of the images create a bright and complete picture. The mental state of the characters - despair, deep sorrow and sadness - is easily read in the expressions of their faces and poses. This fresco brought Giotto well-deserved fame. Thanks to this work, his name became one of the great masters of painting.
4. “The Last Judgment” by Michelangelo, Sistine Chapel. Rome, Vatican, 1508-1512
The Sistine Chapel in the Vatican is a real treasury of world art. The ceiling and altar of the building are covered with amazingly beautiful frescoes by Michelangelo. The painting of the vault is a complex system of compositions and images replacing each other. But special attention is drawn to the altar wall, which depicts Michelangelo’s legendary fresco “The Last Judgment,” which experts call the master’s most mature work. The subject of the fresco is quite traditional for the temple. However, the painter here deviates from the canon and depicts not the moment of the Judgment, when the righteous are already separated from the sinners, but its beginning. Christ, with fiery lightning in his hand, inexorably divides all the inhabitants of the earth into saved righteous and sinners. The detachment of the heroes of traditional religious frescoes here gives way to real human emotions. Here Madonna, sitting on the right hand of her son, turned away, unable to bear what was happening. Human suffering is close to her in a maternal way. The faces and gestures of sinners express fear, despair, and pleas for forgiveness. All the characters in the canvas are described in detail and individualized. However, the particulars here are completely subordinated to the whole, and each individual is subordinated to the general human flow. This is how the artistic and semantic unity of the fresco is created, one of the most striking examples of monumental painting.
5. “The School of Athens” by Raphael, Stanza della Segnatura. Rome, Vatican, 1509-1511
Michelangelo is not the only great artist who had a hand in painting the walls of the Vatican Palace. The famous Raphael received the honor of decorating its state rooms (stanzas) with frescoes. In the Stanza della Segnatura, Raphael presented four areas of human activity: theology ("Disputa"), poetry ("Parnassus"), jurisprudence ("Wisdom, Measure, Power") and philosophy ("School of Athens"). “The School of Athens” gained particular popularity because of its unusual plot. The fresco depicts famous thinkers. Raphael placed on one canvas not only contemporary philosophers, but also those who lived in other eras and in other countries. Thus, in the master’s fresco, Plato, Aristotle, Parmenides, Zeno, the Persian mystic philosopher Zoroaster and many other philosophers harmoniously coexist. In total, the fresco features more than 50 figures. In this way, the School of Athens depicts the ideal community of thinkers of the classical era and glorifies the power of reason to unite space and time. It is noteworthy that when depicting thinkers of the past, Raphael gives them the features of his outstanding contemporaries. Thus, in the image of Plato, whose figure is placed in the compositional center of the fresco, the painter depicted Leonardo Da Vinci.
Which frescoes do you consider the most famous? Perhaps this list needs to be supplemented?
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 confident hand, fast work and a completely clear idea of the entire composition in each part.
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 a modern interior, private or public, as decorative wall painting or as an expensive painting 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) speak about it very vaguely. At the same time, some works have been preserved from those ancient times that allow one 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 paint with oil paints on the fresco ground was 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, the restoration of Michelangelo’s colossal frescoes “The Creation of the World” and “The Last Judgment” was carried out in the personal chapel of the Roman popes - the Sistine Chapel. 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.
At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. 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 to the depreciation service life of the structures whose enclosing structures 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 first grade airborne building lime 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 mixing with water to a dough-like state, 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 (volkonskoite mineral), lapis lazuli and malachite.
Artificial alkali-resistant pigments, quite diverse in color, can 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 (dispersion), ensuring complete envelopment of each pigment particle with a film of calcium hydrate, 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 into separate sections, 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 some cases it is possible to 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 damp 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 in the fresh air, in the 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 has only historical significance for us at the present time. Varieties of so-called fresco painting, in which the binder is lime, should be called simply “lime painting”, just as painting in which paints are knitted with oil is called oil painting, where glue plays the same role - glue painting, etc. .d.
History does not give us exact information about when the use of lime as a binder for painting paints first began. It must be assumed, however, that already in ancient times the simplest method of using it in painting was used, which consisted 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 assimilated 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 painting, etc.). To denote the direct technique of fresco, the name “buon fresco” or “pure fresco” is sometimes used.
The exact date of the appearance of the 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. murals close to frescoes were created among the peoples of the East (in India, Central Asia, 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.).
The article will be of interest to those who want to know what a fresco is and what role this type of art played in the history of architecture and culture during the development of human civilization.
Fresco is the art of painting ceilings by applying a colored design to still-wet plaster using water-based paints. With this technique, the binder and priming substance are the same material - lime. Thanks to this, the paints stick well without crumbling.
What a fresco is was well known back in ancient times. Their peculiarity was that at the end the painting was polished with heated wax. The need to begin and complete the fresco before the lime dried forced the artist to work at a very fast pace. Therefore, if it was necessary to create a large monumental painting, then several artists worked on it. At the same time, they had to have professional experience, because in addition to high drawing speed, it was necessary to have a confident, strong hand and a clear understanding of the entire composition as a whole, since everyone had to work on only one part of it. If corrections were necessary, then this part of the image along with the lime layer was cut out and a new layer of mortar was applied.
Almost all ancient monuments were made using the fresco technique. Our ancestors knew well what frescoes were. The wall paintings of Pompeii, paintings on the walls of Christian catacombs, monuments of Romanesque, Byzantine and Old Russian monumental fresco art have survived to this day.
In the interior of ancient architecture, walls and windows acquired decisive importance. Knowing what a fresco is, they were generously decorated with beautiful paintings on wet plaster and mosaics (according to the wishes of the customers - wealthy inhabitants of homes, and in ancient times, those striving for comfort). Thanks to this, the special “Pompeian” style of painting on wet lime became widely known. The fashion for luxurious floor and wall decoration continued in the medieval interior. Popular trends passed from century to century, so it is not surprising that even during the Renaissance people knew what a fresco was. The tradition of decorating interiors with them has not died out.
For each new era, beauty and splendor, wealth and quality of home decoration remained important. One need only remember the famous bedroom frescoes in the palace of Duke Ludovico Gonzaga in Mantua. The early Renaissance master Andrea Mantegna dedicated his world-famous fresco cycle to the owner of the palace, the ruler of Mantua. The artist depicted scenes from his life.
The wall fresco acquired a very special significance in the rich decoration of the Renaissance palazzo. The splendor of the decoration of the premises was achieved not by ordering unique expensive furniture for the house, but by decorating the ceiling, walls and floor of the house with frescoes.
Today, with the help of fresco painting, they decorate the interiors of both private houses and In our time, fresco has acquired extraordinary relevance, popularity and even prestige, especially such types as artistic and wall fresco, replacing painting.
It so happened historically that among Russian antiquities the lion's share is occupied by churches. There are always fewer fortresses than churches, and our residential buildings have been built of wood for quite a long time. And the main decoration of the temples are frescoes and paintings that were done on wet plaster. Today we present to you a list of the oldest fresco ensembles that have survived (or were preserved) on the territory of our country.
Fewer ancient frescoes have survived than the oldest temples: not all frescoes have survived to this day (for example, traces of paintings could still be traced in the middle of the 19th century, but now they are no longer there), and some temples have never been painted. We tried to collect information about all the frescoes that survived from the period before the Mongol invasion. After him, stone construction itself in Rus' froze for almost a century.
To begin with, let’s make a reservation that the most ancient mosaics and frescoes of Rus' are now located on the territory of Ukraine. From the painting of the Tithe Church, the first stone temple of Rus', destroyed during the capture of Kyiv by Batu, literally a few fragments remained that were found during excavations. But the frescoes of St. Sophia of Kyiv and the Transfiguration Cathedral in Chernigov have been preserved to one degree or another.
St. Sophia Cathedral, Veliky Novgorod
The first ancient Russian temple on the territory of modern Russia was, of course, built by the son of Yaroslav the Wise, Vladimir, in 1045-1050. Quite a few original paintings from the beginning of the 12th century (1109) have been preserved in it, mainly in the Martiryevskaya porch. The most famous composition is Saints Constantine and Helen.
Martiryevskaya porch
Wikimedia Commons
St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery
In 1113, a grandiose temple of the St. Michael's Monastery was built in Kyiv. Perhaps this was the first temple with a golden dome, so the monastery itself began to be called St. Michael’s Golden-Domed Monastery. Alas, in the 1930s, after the capital of Ukraine was transferred from Kharkov to Kyiv, the cathedral was demolished in order to build the government building of the republic in its place. Fortunately, the surviving mosaics and frescoes from the cathedral were transferred to museums. Now most of them have returned to Ukraine, but several mosaics are kept in the State Tretyakov Gallery. Like, for example, this Dmitry Solunsky.
Wikimedia Commons
St. Nicholas Cathedral
In the 11th century there was only one stone church in Novgorod, but in the 12th century construction began on a grand scale. Already in 1113, Prince Mstislav erected a large stone temple in the very center of Novgorod, opposite Sofia, on the other bank of the Volkhov. It occupies a special place in the history of ancient Russian and Novgorod church architecture. Firstly, this is the oldest St. Nicholas Church in Rus' that has survived to our time. Secondly, this is the second oldest surviving Novgorod temple. Frescoes have also been preserved there. True, very little.
Fresco "Job on Gnoische"
Alexey Paevsky/website
Nativity Cathedral of the Anthony Monastery
One of the oldest monasteries in Rus', Antoniev, was founded by Anthony the Roman, who, according to legend, sailed to Veliky Novgorod from Italy, standing on a stone. Tradition may embellish reality, but Anthony really existed, the Nativity Cathedral was really built in 1117-1119, and painted in 1125. The ancient painting was knocked down in 1837, but in some places the frescoes remained. Now they are all open and can be seen.
Saints Florus and Laurus
Wikimedia Commons
St. George's Cathedral of the Yuryev Monastery
The St. George Church of the Yuriev Monastery in Veliky Novgorod, built immediately after the Anthony Monastery, is the first ancient Russian temple about which we know not only the names of its customers. In our case, this is the abbot of the Yuryev Monastery Kirik and Prince Vsevolod Mstislavich - the son of Mstislav Vladimirovich, who left to reign in Kyiv, the grandson of Vladimir Monomakh. “...and Peter the master worked,” says the Novgorod Third Chronicle. So here for the first time we know the name of the architect, architect and foreman rolled into one.
Fragment of the painting
Mirozhsky Monastery
After the end of active construction in Novgorod (St. Nicholas, Nativity and St. George Cathedrals), the construction team probably moved to Pskov. At least three temples were built here in the middle of the 12th century, two of which have survived. And in one of them, the Spassky Cathedral of the Mirozhsky Monastery, unique frescoes have been preserved. This is the only pre-Mongol temple in which this type of painting has been preserved almost entirely: from the floor to the dome, throughout its entire volume. That is why now the temple does not operate, but works as a museum.
Dome of Mirozh Cathedral
Wikimedia Commons
Temple of Boris and Gleb in Kideksha
Not far from Suzdal is the village of Kideksha. This was once the country residence of Yuri Dolgoruky, the official founder of Moscow. And the Church of Boris and Gleb, built by order of the prince, still stands here. We do not know the exact date of construction and painting, despite the fact that the year 1152 is indicated in the chronicle and in many books. But under this date the chronicle simply contains a summary story about Yuri’s construction activities. Only a few frescoes have survived in the temple, and they are all in terrible condition.
Fresco on the northern wall of the temple
Wikimedia Commons
Assumption Cathedral in Vladimir
It so happened that the current Vladimir one has two construction customers and two construction times. It was first built by Prince Andrei Bogolyubsky. By 1160, the work was completed, and the prince invited craftsmen from everywhere to decorate it: paintings, decorating walls with carved stone, making icons and church utensils. In 1161, the temple began to be painted.
