Vic and I went to the Palazzo Vecchio today. We signed up for 3 tours. I guess 3 tours are unheard of there as they never knew what to do with our tickets since we needed them for the next tour.
Anyway, the first tour we went on was called Renaissance Fresco Painting where we thought we would walk about the Palazzo and learn how fresco painting was done. But no. We were caught totally off guard. We were brought into a classroom and given a very exciting and passionate explanation of how frescos are created.
Anyway, the first tour we went on was called Renaissance Fresco Painting where we thought we would walk about the Palazzo and learn how fresco painting was done. But no. We were caught totally off guard. We were brought into a classroom and given a very exciting and passionate explanation of how frescos are created.
This technique is considered to be one of the most sophisticated and difficult to execute, since it does not allow for any changes of mind at all and requires a perfect knowledge of the materials and pigments being used.
A fresco is a technique which consists of painting in pigment mixed with water on a thin layer of wet, fresh lime mortar or plaster. The pigments are actually finely ground (colored) stone dispersed in water.
In a template, called a cartoon, small holes are created along the lines through which sifted powdered paint, or charcoal dust, is used as a guide for the design.
Blue was particularly expensive so at the time of commissions a separate contract for just the amount of blue was usually made in addition another contract for the rest of the fresco.
After our incredibly interesting lecture on how frescos evolved, we were moved to tables to experiment with creating our own small fresco. We were given natural terracotta base that had the wet plaster already applied. The museum guide pounced a small bag with the charcoal dust over our template. I choose the Medici coat of arms; Vic chose something that looked way too complicated. Then we painted.
Many of you who know me well know that I take a long time to do things and tend to be a bit of a perfectionist, but I think I handled the situation deftly. At the end of the activity (30 minutes) we had a fresco masterpiece. It needed to dry about 6 hours so we were allowed to leave it there and pick it up later.
Now, although I love to be creative, I don’t draw all that well and painting perspective is not necessarily my forte, that being said I think I did well for my first attempt. Vic on the other hand donated his tile back to the museum to be used again.
A fresco is a technique which consists of painting in pigment mixed with water on a thin layer of wet, fresh lime mortar or plaster. The pigments are actually finely ground (colored) stone dispersed in water.
In a template, called a cartoon, small holes are created along the lines through which sifted powdered paint, or charcoal dust, is used as a guide for the design.
Blue was particularly expensive so at the time of commissions a separate contract for just the amount of blue was usually made in addition another contract for the rest of the fresco.
After our incredibly interesting lecture on how frescos evolved, we were moved to tables to experiment with creating our own small fresco. We were given natural terracotta base that had the wet plaster already applied. The museum guide pounced a small bag with the charcoal dust over our template. I choose the Medici coat of arms; Vic chose something that looked way too complicated. Then we painted.
Many of you who know me well know that I take a long time to do things and tend to be a bit of a perfectionist, but I think I handled the situation deftly. At the end of the activity (30 minutes) we had a fresco masterpiece. It needed to dry about 6 hours so we were allowed to leave it there and pick it up later.
Now, although I love to be creative, I don’t draw all that well and painting perspective is not necessarily my forte, that being said I think I did well for my first attempt. Vic on the other hand donated his tile back to the museum to be used again.