fresco

noun

fres·co ˈfre-(ˌ)skō

plural frescoes

Synonyms of fresco next

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

: 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 Even the event space is inspired, with 17th-century frescoes and gorgeous vaulted ceilings. —

Mary Winston Nicklin, Condé Nast Traveler, 17 Aug. 2023 Next month, Vidales will open her first solo museum exhibition, at Guadalajara’s Museo Cabañas, home to 57 frescoes by the Mexican muralist José Clemente Orozco. —

Rose Courteau Ana Topoleanu Jocelyn Corona, New York Times, 14 Aug. 2023 The five negotiators — Graves, McHenry, Ricchetti, Young and legislative affairs director Louisa Terrell — met daily in a stately office on the first floor of the Capitol, under frescoes painted by the 19th century muralist Constantino Brumidi. —

Stephen Groves, Fortune, 2 June 2023 The still-life frescoes are by Branca’s mother, Anna Chiara Branca. —

Ingrid Abramovitch, ELLE Decor, 4 Aug. 2023 The archeologists believe that the tasty-looking fresco is focaccia covered in fruits, such as pomegranate and possibly dates, and is finished with spices or a type of pesto. —

Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 29 June 2023 Meanwhile, recently discovered ceiling frescoes and new iconography, which were hiding away for centuries behind layers of plaster, are turning the Prince’s Palace of Monaco from a mere tourist attraction into a significant piece of Renaissance heritage. —

Nicola Leigh Stewart, Robb Report, 1 June 2023 It's served with crispy onions and housemade empanadas with potato, ancho chili and queso fresco. —

Erin Couch, The Enquirer, 7 Aug. 2023 Except, in Gerwig’s filmed fresco, Barbie creator Ruth Handler’s hand touches Barbie’s hand. —

Time, 27 June 2023 See More

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.