Fresco Painting in History of Art

To the extent possible, students in Gordon Jones's Language and History of Art class learn by doing. Recently, Max '14, Siena '14, Pia '13, Tommy '12, Lyssa '12, and Claire '12 have painted in egg tempera and drawn in silverpoint. Now they have experienced all the messiness and urgency of fresco painting. To endure, frescoes must be painted on wet or fresh (i.e. fresco) plaster, so you have to get a move on. They plastered the panel, drew the full size image ("cartoon," or working drawing), and transferred it to the panel by pricking along the lines and dusting it with charcoal. They ground the pigments in lime water and painted the panel in about 30 minutes. This process would have been familiar to Michelangelo and Raphael.