I.

Introduction

Fresco (Italian “fresh”), method, or art, of painting with watercolours on plaster, while the plaster is still wet, or fresh. The term is also applied to the painting executed in this manner. In the Renaissance this process was termed true fresco, or buon fresco, to differentiate it from fresco secco, the process of painting on dry plaster. The term fresco is also sometimes used, improperly, for tempera painting, or distemper, in which watercolour is mixed with egg or other glutinous substances and applied directly to masonry.