fresco

noun

fres·​co ˈfre-(ˌ)skō 

plural frescoes

1

: the art of painting on freshly spread moist lime plaster with water-based pigments

2

: a painting executed in fresco

fresco transitive verb

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.

Did you know?

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

Recent Examples on the Web

Inside the building, the walls and ceilings are covered in 70-year-old fresco murals painted by artists in the 1950s. —Ashley J. Dimella Fox News, FOXNews.com, 18 Apr. 2025

His second thought was the that fresco needed some love. —Clara Vannucci, New York Times, 3 Apr. 2025

The rooms and suites feature private balconies, soaking tubs, bespoke Italian furnishings, and original frescoes. —Regan Stephens, Travel + Leisure, 14 Mar. 2025

Visitors can explore the intricate underground network of graves; frescoes painted during third century story depict Christian persecution during the Roman Empire. —Cat Sposato, AFAR Media, 26 Feb. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Italian, from fresco fresh, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German frisc fresh

First Known Use

1598, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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Kids Definition

fresco

noun

fres·​co ˈfres-kō 

plural frescoes

1

: the art of painting on freshly spread moist plaster

2

: a painting done in fresco

Etymology

Italian, from fresco "fresh"