Fresco

High school (ages 12+)
Art & Creativity

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/fresco

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the painting substrate?Wet lime plaster ('intonaco')
2. What is the pigment vehicle?Water
3. How does a fresco become part of the wall?When the wet plaster dries, the chemicals inside it react with air to form a hard stone. This stone traps the paint inside, making the picture a permanent part of the wall.
4. Why do artists paint frescoes while the plaster is still wet?If the plaster is still wet, the paint can bond with it. If it dries first, the paint would just sit on top and could fall off.

Buon Fresco: A mural painting technique executed on wet lime plaster.
Fresco-Secco: Painting applied to dry plaster, often requiring a binder.
Intonaco: The final, smooth layer of lime plaster on which fresco is painted.
Carbonation: A chemical process where lime reacts with carbon dioxide to form calcium carbonate.