WHAT IS A FRESCO? SECRETS OF THE OLDEST PAINTING TECHNIQUE

Fresco is a concept that seems obvious and understandable…painting on walls instead of canvas or paper. Nothing could be more misleading. It's knowledge, jealously guarded for centuries, described in rare treatises, either with deliberate inaccuracies or a testament to the author's ignorance. Typically, these were more or less exact copies of earlier recipes written by those who had never personally participated in the creation of a fresco.

So, to present the essence of this oldest of painting techniques, a true fresco, properly called "al Fresco buono," is painted on wet plaster. Pigment mixed with lime wash binds and absorbs as calcium carbonate into the mortar covering the wall. The painting process requires not only talent but also a thorough knowledge of the pigments responsible for color, as well as lime, the noblest and healthiest building binder known to man. Today, it has largely been replaced by cement, an invention – the work of absolute accident – ​​from 18th-century England, which was appreciated and popularized in the 19th century. In ancient times and later in volcanic areas, so-called volcanic tufa, sometimes confused with cement, was also used.

Lime has been known to humanity for centuries of civilization. It was rightly attributed quasi-mystical properties. Healing in mild concentrations, in strong concentrations it was used to submerge corpses during epidemics to halt them. It's difficult to say today when it was first used in art. Nevertheless, it's difficult to imagine the astonishment that accompanied the discovery in the 18th century, beneath the ashes and ruins, of fabulously beautiful, relatively well-preserved frescoes in Pompeii and Herculaneum. The lava and ash of Vesuvius consumed people and animals in the blink of an eye; many never even managed to wake up. The fiery death completely destroyed both cities, but the frescoes remained largely intact and amaze with their extraordinary beauty and freshness after nearly 2,000 years. It's worth remembering that even older examples of fresco painting from Egypt and Cyprus have survived.

This technique requires extraordinary knowledge and preparation. A drawing, drawn on soft paper and attached to fresh plaster with pins, is then transferred with a stylus in the form of a delicate groove, creating the outline of the composition. There's no point in describing the entire intricate painting technique here. Suffice it to say that only certain pigments—the basis of the colors—will survive on this surface. Most disappear without a trace after two or three days, like a light-sensitive film exposed to daylight. The effect of the artistic intentions remains a mystery even to the artist for two to three months, until the lime is completely dry. The difference is like the color of a beach stone before and after drying. The degree of difficulty is further increased by another significant skill: joining the individual surfaces of the painted plaster without damaging the already painted section.

It's usually difficult to paint more than 1 to 1.5 square meters in a single day. Such work requires a skilled plasterer, his assistant, determination, and phenomenal knowledge. This writer gazed in astonishment at the white wall where he had painted a figure a few days earlier. The incorrectly selected pigments had completely disappeared under the influence of lime. Rock sand—not river sand—is essential, as are goat hair, which ensures proper binding, and a host of other materials essential for the proper execution of a fresco. Perhaps one of the few people who mastered this knowledge practically at the time was Anna Kozłowska. Hence, the now-deceased Professor Aleksander Gieysztor, director of the Royal Castle from 1979 to 1991, after seeing her work in Great Britain, decided to entrust the studio with the design and implementation of the painted decoration of the Former Chamber of Deputies using the al Fresco buono technique.

It was known that it depicted the coats of arms of Polish lands, but there was no binding documentation, and the design required an expedition to Italy and a thorough analysis of surviving examples from the period. Based on this material, this writer prepared a design that, executed on a 1:20 scale, ultimately convinced the Royal Castle Interior Commission that the game was worth the candle. This model is now housed in the Castle Treasury. One of the vaults features the coat of arms of the Sandomierz region – almost identical to the flag of the United States! Legend has it that it was Tadeusz Kościuszko who suggested this idea to President Washington…

It's worth adding that the information preserved from that time was extremely sparse. We know that the Italian architect Giovanni Battista Quadro rebuilt the Castle in 1569-1572, commissioned by Sigismund Augustus. The Chamber of Deputies, decorated with frescoes, was also built then. Both Italians and Poles were active there. A charming fragment of preserved records reads as follows... "To the painter Łukasz, for painting all the large brick house, 115 florins, but the register must be moderated, as he was paying a high price." "For the holidays, to all the carpenters, carols, 6 groszy.".

Anna Kozłowska's work lasted two years. There was no day off—fresco technique is very harsh—and she painted in the afternoons and at night. During the day, plasterers trained by the specialist we brought from England, Mr. Martin Joy, prepared layers of plaster. It's worth mentioning a fragment of Michelangelo's letter to his father during work on the Sistine Chapel: "It's almost midnight, I must send the plasterer to work..."

Finally, something significant and moving. Immediately after the war, secretly from the communist authorities, for whom rebuilding the Castle was anathema, lime was dug into the area around the castle grounds and covered with earth, in accordance with the best practices, in the hope that the Castle would one day be rebuilt and then it would be necessary. This very lime was used for the frescoes described here!

Completed in 1991, the work was dedicated to Professor Gieysztor. A keen observer will spot the appropriate inscription on the mantelpiece and will likely also discover the signature of Anna Kozłowska, along with a portrait of a small mouse that lived in tons of sand.

The entire operation took exactly as long as it would have in the 16th century. The result captures the unique qualities of fresco technique, its luminosity and delicacy, unattainable in other techniques. The entire work and its extraordinary effect resulted in numerous positive comments in the European press, including The Times.

Over time, further projects followed, and new experiences resulted in the development of a technique that allows for the creation of a fresco on a ready-made dry wall or any rigid, portable surface covered with a special thin layer with a plaster-like texture. Today, a fresco can be painted in the studio and then placed on the wall. This is an infinitely simpler and less expensive technique, yet it achieves the same effect of magnificent luminosity and elegance as a fresco. More such projects, used in interior design projects, can be found on the studio's website: https://architektura-wnetrza.eu/pl or http://architecture-interiors.eu

Prepared by Jacek Czeczot-Gawrak based on the notes of Anna Kozłowska

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