Art Print: fine art painting prints or art poster prints.

Fresco as the art of painting.

The art of painting, or the work of art produced by painting, with a water-colour medium upon either freshly laid or damped plaster is known as 'fresco.' The latter method, usually spoken of as "fresco secco", is understood to be the more ancient, and to have been that employed in the decoration of Etruscan tombs, and in Egypt; but true fresco, the "buon fresco" of the Italians, is also of great antiquity, having been used in Rome and Pompeii. Secco, how-ever, has outlasted fresco in actual practice, being still extensively used for the rougher kinds of decorative work, while fresco is now seldom used, and then only in experimental form. In secco the plaster ground, being already existent, or having been prepared and allowed to dry thoroughly, is well damped before the artist begins his work and forms a partially absorbent ground for the colours when applied, and wall and decoration dry together. But the great decorations of the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries were executed in fresco — i. e. upon freshly-laid plaster. The palette available in a restricted one; for the colours, having to stand the action of the lime in the plaster, the union of which with the pigments forms carbonate of lime, are principally those obtained from natural earths. Before beginning to paint, however, the artist usually prepares a coloured sketch and a full-sized cartoon of each subject. Fresh plaster sufficient for a day's work is laid upon the wall, and then with a blunt iron stylus the outlines of the cartoon, held against the plaster, are traced, leaving indented lines on the surface beneath. The artist then proceeds with the actual painting, working with great rapidity and precision; for everything that can be expressed in one painting has to be done, and the work carried as far as possible. For retouching will never equal the original work in softness, spontaneity, and style; while, having to be done in "tempera", it will not be nearly as permanent as the fresco itself. The famous mural decorations of the earlier Italian schools were executed in fresco; and those of the Campo Santo at Pisa, of the Arena chapel at Padua, of the church of S. Maria Novella, the convent of S. Mark and the Riccardi chapel in Florence, of the Siena library, of the stanze of the Vatican and the Sistine chapel, and of Parma cathedral may be taken as typical of the achievement of the great masters of this medium. After the introduction of an oil medium by the Van Eycks early in the 15th century, however, fresco was gradually displaced, and the most characteristic decorations of the latter half of the 16th century— the gorgeous wall pictures of the great Venetians — and of the 17th were executed in oils. During the 19th century an attempt was made by a group of German painters, known as 'Nazarenes' (Overbeck, Cornelius, and others), to reintroduce fresco decoration on a large scale; but their efforts were not crowned with perfect success. In Britain a similar attempt was made about 1845, in connection with the decoration of the new Houses of Parliament. The best result of this was Dyce's frescoes in the royal robing-room at Westminster.

The painting was sold to the private collection with 7,000 dollars.

Fresco as the art of painting: The Annunciation. A famous fresco by Fra Angelico in the Convent of S. Mark, Florence.

Artprint4u.com find out some printing terms useful in Art Prints.