gesso

American  

[jes-oh] / ˈdʒɛs oʊ /

noun

• gessoes
  plural

1. gypsum or plaster of Paris prepared with glue for use as a surface for painting.

2. any plasterlike preparation to prepare a surface for painting, gilding, etc.

3. a prepared surface of plaster or plasterlike material for painting, gilding, etc.

---

gesso British  

/ ˈdʒɛsəʊ /

noun

1. a white ground of plaster and size, used esp in the Middle Ages and Renaissance to prepare panels or canvas for painting or gilding

2. any white substance, esp plaster of Paris, that forms a ground when mixed with water

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• gessoes
  plural

---

Etymology

Origin of gesso

1590–1600; < Italian < Latin gypsum gypsum

---

Explanation

Gesso is a substance similar to white paint that artists use to prepare a surface for painting. Gesso is typically made of glue, chalk, and white pigment. Before you paint a portrait on a square of canvas or a piece of wood, you may want to coat your painting surface with gesso. After it dries, gesso creates an even base that holds paint well — similar to the primer house painters use before applying paint. Gesso means "chalk" or "plaster" in Italian, from the Latin gypsum, also "plaster," and the Greek root gypsos, "chalk."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

gesso gessoes

Today, painters most often use an acrylic polymer known as gesso, but 200 years ago, artists turned to a motley variety of substances.

From Science Magazine ● May 23, 2023

The technique, which he calls “gessography,” combines the age-old methods of engraving with gesso and painting.

From New York Times ● Apr. 27, 2022

Pittman was interested in the ritual of painting: the stretching of canvas, the application of gesso, the layering of paint.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2019

Using graduated saturations of ink-wash over gesso, Simpson builds landscapes and seascapes that recall J. M. W. Turner or Chinese shan shui compositions.

From The New Yorker ● May 14, 2019

I muck up my mother’s kitchen floor and pots, cooking the gesso, and ruin panel after panel before I can work out how to paint it on for a smooth working surface.

From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood

Starting with a rectangle of linen exactly 68 in. by 178 in., she folds, sizes and gessoes it until it becomes a geometrical plaque.

From Time Magazine Archive

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---