RESTORATION OF MURAL AND STONE ARTIFACTS

Fresco – Mezzo Fresco – Secco Paintings

Fresco is an ancient mural painting technique executed upon freshly laid lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the pigments, generally of mineral origins. In this way, once the plaster has completed the process of carbonation, the painting becomes an integral part of the wall acquiring a particular resistance to water and time.

It consists of three elements: support, plaster, color.

• The support is made of stones or bricks.
• The plaster (in Italian intonaco, tonaco or tonachino) is the most important element of the entire fresco. It consists of a dough made with fine river sand, marble powder, sieved pozzolan, lime and water.
• The color, which must be spread on a fresh plaster (hence the name fresco), must belong to the category of oxides, as it should not interact with the chemical reaction of the lime.

Variants of this technique only for the application of color:

Mezzo Fresco or Lime Paint: executed on wet or dry surfaces spread with milk of lime, the painting is executed with colors for fresco and a small amount of lime.

Secco Painting: it is done on dry plaster (secco means "dry" in Italian). The pigments require a binding medium in order to remain attached to the wall.

RIGNANO BEFORE/AFTER		CAPRANICA BEFORE/AFTER
RIGNANO		CAPRANICA