Fresco (plural
frescos or
frescoes) is a technique of
mural painting executed upon freshly-laid, or wet
lime plaster.
Water is used as the vehicle for the
pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting becomes an integral part of the wall. The word fresco is derived from the Italian adjective
fresco meaning "fresh", and may thus be contrasted with
fresco-secco or secco mural painting techniques, which are applied to dried plaster, to supplement painting in fresco. The fresco technique has been employed since antiquity and is closely associated with
Italian Renaissance painting.