fresco

Meanings

1. 1nouncountablespecialist

   A wall or ceiling painting made by applying water-based paint onto fresh, damp plaster so the colors dry into the surface.

   Grammar: Count it when you mean a single work: a fresco on the ceiling.

   Patterns

   • a fresco of something
   • a fresco by someone

   Tourists tilted their heads back to admire the fresco on the chapel ceiling.

   The museum is restoring a fresco that had faded after centuries of candle smoke.

   He painted a small fresco of olive trees in the courtyard.

2. 2noununcountablespecialist

   The technique of painting on wet plaster in this way.

   Grammar: Used without an or an: she trained in fresco.

   Patterns

   • paint in fresco
   • work in fresco

   Fresco demands speed, because the artist must finish before the plaster dries.

   Many Renaissance artists learned fresco as apprentices.

   She chose fresco over canvas for the church project.

Word forms

Common combinations

ceiling fresco

The ceiling fresco shows a sky full of angels.

restore a fresco

Conservators spent two years restoring the fresco.

faded fresco

A faded fresco covered the wall behind the altar.

Renaissance fresco

A Renaissance fresco was found under the plaster.

paint a fresco

He was hired to paint a fresco in the town hall.

Synonyms and how they differ

mural

A mural is any large wall painting in any medium, while a fresco is specifically painted on wet plaster.

wall painting

This is the everyday, general phrase and says nothing about the technique.

fresco secco

Fresco secco is painting on dry plaster, so it is similar in look but not a true fresco.

Word family

frescoed adjective

decorated with frescoes

fresco painter noun

an artist who works in this technique

frescoist noun

a rare word for a fresco painter

Commonly confused: fresco or fresh?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “fresco”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

Explore more words