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
Brass bands will roam the city's streets, al fresco jazz hosted in the craft Village, while Guildhall Square's Gay McIntyre stage will host open air jazz for the next three days.
From BBC ● May 1, 2026
One of the leader’s admirers, a restorer working on a fresco at Rome’s Basilica of San Lorenzo in Lucina, etched her likeness onto the face of an angel holding up a map of Italy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 19, 2026
Leonardo has transferred his oil technique to fresco painting.
From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day
Estimated by art historians to have been begun sometime after 1317, the frescoes are considered to be one of Giotto di Bondone's masterpieces.
From Barron's ● Jun. 12, 2026
Even the prosecutor touring a buried villa that’s become a crime scene, illegally stripped of its frescoes, bemoans what’s been lost when thieves rob a people of their ancestors’ memories.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 13, 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
The morning after his dinner with Wing Chau, Eisman woke up to his first glimpse of the bond market in the flesh, and a lot of sensationally phony baroque ceiling frescoes.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
Walk through the Convent of San Marco in Florence, and you’ll see Crucifixion after Crucifixion in frescos by the 15th-century painter Fra Angelico.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 12, 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
Earlier this year, archaeologists revealed frescos of mythical Greek figures including Helen of Troy and Apollo.
From BBC ● Nov. 9, 2024
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
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
Authorities in Rome on Thursday opened to the public a unique private home that stood on the site before the baths, with a frescoed ceiling and prayer room honoring Roman and Egyptian deities.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 23, 2022
The whole of the apse had been taken over by a monumental furnace, and a brick chimney cut right up through the center of the frescoed dome, obliterating the heads of angels.
From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor
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 learned also many useful trades; and music, frescoing, and art were taught those who seemed to have an especial taste for such things.
From History of California by Bandini, Helen Elliott
There is none of the "dim, religious light" in the interior decoration of white and gold, the subtle colouring of the symbolic frescoing and the brilliance of the gold and brazen altar furnishing.
From Famous Firesides of French Canada by Alloway, Mary Wilson
I'm sick; and it's medicine I need, not frescoing.'
From Roads of Destiny by Henry, O.
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.
