fresco
Americannoun
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Also called buon fresco. Also called true fresco. the art or technique of painting on a moist, plaster surface with colors ground up in water or a limewater mixture.
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a picture or design so painted.
verb (used with object)
noun
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a very durable method of wall-painting using watercolours on wet plaster or, less properly, dry plaster ( fresco secco ), with a less durable result
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a painting done in this way
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of fresco
First recorded in 1590–1600; from Italian: “cool, fresh,” of Germanic origin; see fresh
Explanation
Whether you've studied art history or not, you're probably familiar with the world's most famous fresco: Michelangelo's paintings on the walls and ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome. To paint a fresco, you must apply paint to freshly applied plaster that is still wet, and you better get it right the first time. Too slow and the plaster hardens, and then you've got a lot of chipping away to do. Fresco comes from the Italian fresco, meaning "cool" or "fresh," which describes exactly the fast, unlabored technique required of fresco painting.
Vocabulary lists containing fresco
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Stroke of Genius: Words About Painting
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Renata Pintus, who heads the masonry department at the Opificio delle Pietre Dure, Florence's famous restoration workshop, told AFP it had been a "privilege" to work on Giotto's famous fresco cycle.
From Barron's ● Jun. 12, 2026
During warmer months, the patio offers an excellent spot for al fresco dining.
From Salon ● Jun. 11, 2026
They have refused to play some nights, on one occasion putting on a free al fresco show a few winding streets away instead.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 19, 2026
Go the Capitol rotunda and look up at the dome, where Constantino Brumidi’s fresco The Apotheosis of Washington, painted during the Civil War, shows Washington in heaven, flanked by goddesses.
From Slate ● Feb. 16, 2026
I can hear the taptap callers, the fresco vendors, the egg seller's shout, the truck horns.
From "Taste of Salt: A Story of Modern Haiti" by Frances Temple
“You can hear that these buildings carry the echoes of the lives they contained because of the frescoes, the mosaics, the furniture. You feel 2,000 years compress and collapse. It’s like magic.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
Architectural landmarks and art, including mosaics, frescoes and sculptures, have been rapidly demolished.
From Barron's ● Apr. 24, 2026
"Painters used to put all sorts of things in frescoes," Monsignor Daniele Micheletti said.
From BBC ● Feb. 3, 2026
She examined frescoes, illuminated manuscripts, hagiographies, and letters, uncovering materials that had been misdated or wrongly attributed.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 2, 2026
Animated frescoes arrange and rearrange into different celestial scenes: the gods and goddesses, an everlasting rose, the kings and queens of old, the islands of Orléans, the heavens.
From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton
Rivera’s monumental frescos require constant scraping and repainting.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 29, 2026
The frescos on the ceiling, the intricate wooden and stone carvings that punctuate the space, they’re all in perfect condition.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 15, 2025
Inside the breathtaking Art Deco interiors of the Palais de la Porte Doree, Issey Miyake ’s guests admired wall-to-wall frescos and bas-reliefs of exotic scenes lit up in dappled lighting.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 1, 2024
On mountain slopes in the Swiss village of Villars-sur-Ollon, an artist has used chalk and charcoal to paint two giant frescos of children sketching how they see the vast world around them.
From Reuters ● Jul. 24, 2023
Of this series of frescos, which are now in progress, a few only are finished, from which, however, a very satisfactory idea may be formed, of the whole design.
From Visits and Sketches at Home and Abroad with Tales and Miscellanies Now First Collected Vol. II (of 3) by Jameson, Mrs. (Anna)
Once virtually lost to memory after being painted over with whitewash, the frescoes began to be uncovered in the mid-19th century -- but the work left scratches and pockets of white on the frescoed walls.
From Barron's ● Jun. 12, 2026
The New York County Courthouse's Roman façade and frescoed interiors have played backdrop to many iconic movies and television shows - perhaps, most famously, Goodfellas.
From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2023
On Tuesday, the two autocratic presidents will dine at a state banquet in a richly frescoed hall used by a long line of Russian czars.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 21, 2023
The chapel, frescoed by Michelangelo, is the traditional setting for the baptisms, an event which closes out the Vatican’s year-end ceremonies.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 8, 2023
Walking into the library, I took in my breath sharply and stopped: glass-fronted bookcases and Gothic panels, stretching fifteen feet to a frescoed and plaster-medallioned ceiling.
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
The medium made famous by Michelangelo, da Vinci and Fra Angelico, frescoing is a delicate process that entails crushing pigments and painting them into wet plaster before it dries.
From Washington Post ● May 6, 2021
Near the end of his torturous years of frescoing, Michelangelo was painting right over the elevated area where the pope would sit on his gilded throne.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 5, 2012
They ruined the frescoing behind them, as my first Cecropia soiled the lace curtain when I was smaller than Molly-Cotton at that time.
From Moths of the Limberlost by Stratton-Porter, Gene
It seemed as if some goblin Michel Angelo had here done his carving and frescoing at the command of the lords of hell.
From Overland by De Forest, J. W. (John William)
In the lantern where the frescoing is contemplated the wall will be faced with porous brick, on which the proper fresco plaster can be spread.
From The American Architect and Building News, Vol. 27, Jan-Mar, 1890 by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
