DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.20658#0261
FRESCO.
247
SECTION V.
PAINTING IN FRESCO.
PAINTING in fresco is considered as the most ancient, the most speedily executed, and the
most durable branch of the art, as well as the most suitable for ornamenting great buildings. From
I lie fragments that have come down to our times, it appears that the Romans worked much in
this way ; and travellers in Egypt tell us of colossal figures painted on walls of palaces and
temples in that country eighty feet high. By the description given of the ground of these
pictures, and of the way in which the colours seem to have been employed, they must have been
done in what is now called fresco. The durability of this kind of painting is proved by the
existence of these paintings; for no other sort could so long have resisted the effects of the weather,
or the rude attacks of the barbarian inhabitants amongst whom they are found. Authors are
divided as to the best climate and situation for paintings in this way : some asserting that at Paris,
for example, such works stand longer than in the south of France or Italjr, on account of the lower
degree of heat: this is as positively denied by others, who affirm that fresco paintings are longer
preserved in dry and warm climates than in those that are moist and cold. But other circumstances
outfit to be taken into consideration, such as the effects of a fire in the apartment where the
paintings are; and of the frost when allowed to penetrate to them: for frost as is well known will
burst stones, and affect the internal parts of the bodies on which the paintings are performed, as
well as the substances of which they consist. The choice of place where fresco is to be executed
is therefore of the highest importance. In a country where frosts are little felt, the best situation
seems to be a northern exposure, but in cold climates a western exposure promises to be more
favourable; as were the painting exposed to the sun's rays, immediately or soon after the frost,
the effect would be very pernicious. Moisture however does not appear to be so dangerous to
works in fresco as has been supposed, of which we have instances in the ancient paintings rescued
from damp places, where they had lain covered for many ages under heaps of earth, and yet have
retained their colours in great perfection ; and man}' of which, as those discovered in the
ruins of Herculanum, overwhelmed by Mount Vesuvius, have lost their colour soon after they
had been exposed and dried by the external air. Again, the mortar of which the original
ground of these works is composed resists the effects of even our rainy climates: instances are
frequently met with of the mortar being more tenacious and durable than the stones or bricks it
was employed to cement together.
In executing fresco paintings, next to the choice of a situation, the choice of the necessary
materials is of the greatest importance : as its durability depends chiefly on the ground on which
it is executed. For it will readily be perceived that minuteness of detail in the forms, an extensive
mixture and gradation of tints, delicacy of touch, can make no part of the merits of this kind of
painting, It cannot support a narrow examination like a work in oil, because, from its nature,
it is liable to a hard and rough appearance, which would offend when brought near the eye.
Fresco paintings are chiefly employed in palaces, temples, and other public edifices; and in such
situations it is preferable to any other, from the size, the boldness of design, and the freshness
of colouring of the figures. They have, in particular, an admirable effect in the roof of a dome,
and transport the imagination far beyond the limits of the building.
Fresco painting is so named from an Italian term expressing the freshness and moisture of the
plaster
247
SECTION V.
PAINTING IN FRESCO.
PAINTING in fresco is considered as the most ancient, the most speedily executed, and the
most durable branch of the art, as well as the most suitable for ornamenting great buildings. From
I lie fragments that have come down to our times, it appears that the Romans worked much in
this way ; and travellers in Egypt tell us of colossal figures painted on walls of palaces and
temples in that country eighty feet high. By the description given of the ground of these
pictures, and of the way in which the colours seem to have been employed, they must have been
done in what is now called fresco. The durability of this kind of painting is proved by the
existence of these paintings; for no other sort could so long have resisted the effects of the weather,
or the rude attacks of the barbarian inhabitants amongst whom they are found. Authors are
divided as to the best climate and situation for paintings in this way : some asserting that at Paris,
for example, such works stand longer than in the south of France or Italjr, on account of the lower
degree of heat: this is as positively denied by others, who affirm that fresco paintings are longer
preserved in dry and warm climates than in those that are moist and cold. But other circumstances
outfit to be taken into consideration, such as the effects of a fire in the apartment where the
paintings are; and of the frost when allowed to penetrate to them: for frost as is well known will
burst stones, and affect the internal parts of the bodies on which the paintings are performed, as
well as the substances of which they consist. The choice of place where fresco is to be executed
is therefore of the highest importance. In a country where frosts are little felt, the best situation
seems to be a northern exposure, but in cold climates a western exposure promises to be more
favourable; as were the painting exposed to the sun's rays, immediately or soon after the frost,
the effect would be very pernicious. Moisture however does not appear to be so dangerous to
works in fresco as has been supposed, of which we have instances in the ancient paintings rescued
from damp places, where they had lain covered for many ages under heaps of earth, and yet have
retained their colours in great perfection ; and man}' of which, as those discovered in the
ruins of Herculanum, overwhelmed by Mount Vesuvius, have lost their colour soon after they
had been exposed and dried by the external air. Again, the mortar of which the original
ground of these works is composed resists the effects of even our rainy climates: instances are
frequently met with of the mortar being more tenacious and durable than the stones or bricks it
was employed to cement together.
In executing fresco paintings, next to the choice of a situation, the choice of the necessary
materials is of the greatest importance : as its durability depends chiefly on the ground on which
it is executed. For it will readily be perceived that minuteness of detail in the forms, an extensive
mixture and gradation of tints, delicacy of touch, can make no part of the merits of this kind of
painting, It cannot support a narrow examination like a work in oil, because, from its nature,
it is liable to a hard and rough appearance, which would offend when brought near the eye.
Fresco paintings are chiefly employed in palaces, temples, and other public edifices; and in such
situations it is preferable to any other, from the size, the boldness of design, and the freshness
of colouring of the figures. They have, in particular, an admirable effect in the roof of a dome,
and transport the imagination far beyond the limits of the building.
Fresco painting is so named from an Italian term expressing the freshness and moisture of the
plaster