fresco
noun
Did you know?
If the word fresco brings to mind images of eating an alfresco meal—that is, a meal eaten outside “in the fresh air”—your gut is on the right track: fresco is Italian for “fresh,” and the culinary usage is relatively common in English. But what puts the “fresh” in the English fresco is not so appetizing: the name of this art form refers to the fresh plaster used in it. Fresco is an ancient art, used as early as the Minoan civilization on Crete, but it reached the height of its popularity during the Italian Renaissance of the late 15th and early 16th centuries. Fresco comes in two types: in fresco secco (“dry fresco”), a dry wall is soaked in limewater, and lime-resistant pigments are then applied; in buon fresco (“good fresco”; buon fresco is also called “true” fresco), used by Michelangelo in his 16th century Sistine Chapel frescos, pigments are fused directly with wet plaster.
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Fresco and the Art World
The Italian word fresco means “fresh” and comes from a Germanic word akin to the source of English fresh. In the Renaissance, pittura a fresco, meaning “painting freshly,” referred to paint applied while the plaster on the wall was still wet, as opposed to pittura a secco “painting dryly,” in which paint is applied when the plaster was dry. In English, fresco appears earliest as part of the phrase in fresco; it does not appear as a noun referring to a painting until 1670. A different sense of Italian fresco, meaning “fresh air,” appears in the phrase al fresco “outdoors,” borrowed into English as alfresco and used particularly in reference to dining outdoors.
Examples of fresco in a Sentence
Jacob Stern, The Atlantic, 15 Apr. 2024
The frescoes and the room in which they were painted were found during excavation efforts in the Regio IX area of Pompeii, the Post noted.
—Tori Latham, Robb Report, 12 Apr. 2024
The frescoes are in such good condition that some have speculated they may have been painted just before Vesuvius erupted.
—Patrick Smith, NBC News, 11 Apr. 2024
It was held in Zappeion Hall, an enormous circular structure that was built in 1888 in classical style as a venue for the first modern Olympic Games in 1896, with an open atrium, gleaming white Corinthian columns, and brilliantly colored frescoes and floor mosaics.
—Tony Perrottet, Smithsonian Magazine, 27 Mar. 2024
Production design by Adam Reamer engulfs Cecilia in the abbey’s majestic courtyards, spooky corridors and candlelit chambers like a figure in a fresco, immersed in menacing ritual and beauty.
—Jen Yamato, Washington Post, 20 Mar. 2024
The painting depicts engineers, artists and sculptors, creating both a fresco and a city.
—Rebecca Ellis, Los Angeles Times, 3 Mar. 2024
As its name implies, the hotel is Venice-themed, and guests begin their stay in the over-the-top lobby decked out in frescoes.
—Lydia Mansel, Travel + Leisure, 17 Feb. 2024
The fresco portrays this moment: Helle is submerged in the water, reaching up toward her brother.
—Julia Binswanger, Smithsonian Magazine, 5 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'fresco.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near fresco
Cite this Entry
“Fresco.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fresco. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
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fresco
noun
Italian, from fresco "fresh"
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