Fresco Painting, Introduction

[Fresco]

In it's essence, fresco or fresco painting is an - application of natural mineral pigments to a surface on which a following chemical reaction takes place:

Ca(OH)2(s) + CO2(g) ----> CaCO3(s) + H2O(l)

Calcium Hydrate (burned lime stone or marble mixed with water) combined with carbon dioxide resulting in the formation of Calcium Carbonate - lime stone, marble. It is like "Painting with molten Marble".

Those elements naturally surround mankind from the beginning of time. Calcium Hydrate - moist lime stone walls of the caves at first and plaster walls and ceilings of the buildings later. Paints prepared from natural pigments made of minerals, earth oxides and clays and mixed with water. Painting in Fresco results in a painting being a part of the newly formed stone/wall rather than being a "film on a surface".

This fact makes fresco the only pure "organic" or "green" method of painting - no solvents, glues or man-made materials are used. It is also most permanent method of painting which will not fade, flake off, etc. The aged crumbling look of old frescoes is a result of the damage to the wall surface, not the painting. Recently cleaned frescoes by Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel are the great example of the permanence of the medium.

Fresco painting is a direct product of the desire of our species to communicate by visual means when the