Fresco Workshop

Fresco (literally fresh, in Italian) is the revered art of painting on fast-drying damp plaster with water based pigments. First employed in the 11th and 12th centuries as a means of simple decoration in churches, modern fresco painting soon grew into the medium of choice, mirroring the major artistic developments of the Renaissance. Major fresco works such as Giotto's Bardi Chapel in Santa Croce, Masaccio's Trinity in Santa Maria Novella, and Michelangelo's masterful Sistine Chapel in Rome demonstrate the importance of fresco in the history of art.

This three-hour fresco workshop provides a hands-on experience of the materials and technique of fresco painting. The session begins with a visit to the studio of our docent, an accomplished fresco artist, and a brief lecture/overview of fresco. We are then guided through the steps of preparing a surface, drawing and transfering a drawing (cartoon), and finally applying the paint. At the end, participants take home their own fresco.