Medieval frescoes Automatic translate

Medieval fresco painting is one of the most significant forms of monumental art, which reached its peak between the 10th and 15th centuries. This technique of painting on wet lime plaster made it possible to create long-lasting works of art that became an integral part of the architectural space of churches, monasteries and secular buildings.

Medieval masters developed a complex system of artistic techniques and thematic programs that combined religious dogma with artistic expression. Fresco painting served not only decorative purposes, but also performed an important educational and spiritual function, conveying biblical stories and Christian ideas to an illiterate population through visual images.

History of the development of fresco technique

Fresco painting has ancient roots dating back to antiquity, but it was in the medieval period that it acquired its characteristic features and achieved technical perfection. The word "fresco" comes from the Italian "affresco", which means "fresh", indicating the main feature of the technique - the application of paints to wet plaster.

In the early medieval period, fresco painting developed mainly within the framework of the Byzantine artistic tradition. Byzantine masters created a standardized system of church painting, where each element of the temple space had a strictly defined iconographic content. The domes, walls and vaults of Byzantine churches were covered with frescoes with biblical and Christian subjects, executed in a characteristic static manner.

The development of the Western European fresco tradition began in the Romanesque period (10th to 12th centuries). Romanesque frescoes were characterized by bright, predominantly primary colors and a vigorous style in both sculpture and painting. Artists of this period followed Byzantine iconographic models for the most common ecclesiastical subjects, including depictions of Christ in glory, the Last Judgement, and scenes from the life of Christ.

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The Gothic period brought significant changes to fresco painting. Artists began to experiment with spatial solutions and more realistic depictions of human figures. The 14th century was particularly important, with the formation of an outstanding school of fresco painting in Padua. Artists, beginning with Giotto, made important stylistic innovations in the history of art, developing new ways of depicting allegorical narratives in spatial perspective.

Regional schools and traditions

Each region of medieval Europe developed its own traditions of fresco painting. Armenian monumental art became the undisputed leader of early medieval and medieval artistic creativity. Armenian frescoes, like monumental painting in general, were based mainly on Christian themes, which increased their artistic value.

The Russian fresco tradition developed under significant Byzantine influence, but over time acquired characteristic local features. Novgorod monastery churches of the second half of the 14th century demonstrate unique programs of fresco decorations, reflecting both liturgical traditions and the influence of Western Balkan artistic culture. The iconographic programs of the narthexes served as a kind of prelude to the decoration of the main space of the temple.

The Serbian fresco tradition is represented by outstanding monuments such as the frescoes of the Dečani Monastery. The Dečani frescoes are not just a collection of iconographic themes found in old Serbian art, but also a collection of artistic schemes. The intention to present the faithful with an artistic embodiment of the entire history of salvation was an unprecedented undertaking, never repeated in either Byzantine or Serbian art.

Fresco painting techniques

Fresco: history and painting technique

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Fresco is the oldest type of monumental painting, done with water-based paints on fresh, damp plaster. The name comes from the Italian "fresco" - "fresh".

Buon fresco and fresco secco

Medieval artists used two main techniques of fresco painting: buon fresco (true fresco) and fresco secco (dry fresco). Buon fresco is a method of painting on plaster in which paints are applied to a wet surface. Pigments mixed with water chemically bond with the lime plaster, creating an extremely durable painting.

Fresco secco, on the other hand, is done on dry plaster. This technique allowed artists to work more slowly and make corrections, but the paints did not become part of the wall, but were placed on its surface. Many medieval frescoes are a combination of both techniques, with the main painting done buon fresco and details and corrections added secco.

Preparatory work

The process of creating a fresco began with careful preparation of the wall. The first layer of plaster, called "arriccio", was applied to the cleaned wall. This rough layer, about one centimeter thick, consisted of a mixture of slaked lime and coarse river sand. The roughness of this surface contributed to better adhesion of subsequent layers.

On the arriccio, the artist applied a preparatory drawing - a sinopia. First, the main contours of the composition were outlined with charcoal, which was easily erased. After the drawing was approved, the master used ochre to apply a second set of lines next to the charcoal ones. Then the charcoal lines were erased with pens, and the details of the image were drawn with red earth - folds of draperies, faces, light and shadow transitions.

Jornat system

The key element of the buon fresco technique was the system of giornata, or daily work areas. Giornata refers to the amount of painting that can be done in one working day, based on the artist’s experience. This amount depended on the artist’s ability to paint a certain area in the time it takes for the plaster to remain wet and for the pigment to adhere to the wall.

Fresh plaster, intonaco, was applied daily only to the area the artist planned to paint. Typically, the area of ​​one daily area was 6 to 9 square meters. Intonaco is a thin transparent layer consisting of one part slaked lime and two parts fine-grained sand. This finishing layer had to remain wet during painting.

When the artist finished work for the day, excess plaster was scraped off to prevent it from drying. The next morning, the artist could begin with new, wet plaster, ready for painting. The borders of the giornata were usually planned to match the contours of figures or objects, making the daytime segments less noticeable.

Technique of applying paints

Painting the fresco required high creative tension, skill, speed and precision of work. The most suitable season for fresco painting was the warm summer period from May to September. Work began from the upper part of the temple and the altars.

After applying the intonaco, the surface was leveled, vertical and horizontal lines were marked on the wall. Then an underpainting of the entire composition was done with yellow, red, brown or black pigments mixed with water, and the main lines of the sketch were scratched with a sharp instrument.

The masters covered the halo and head of the saint with ochre and greyish-green tone. The light protruding parts were painted in light yellow, then whitened with white in two stages. The faces (the contours of the eyes, nose and eyebrows) were first drawn in red-brown, then dark green, almost black. The clothes were painted in a similar way: wide stripes of washes were superimposed on the primary tone (green, pink, blue).

Materials and pigments

Base and binders

The basis for medieval frescoes was lime plaster, made from slaked lime and sand of varying grain sizes. Coarser sand was used for arriccio, and finer sand for intonaco. The quality of the lime was crucial for the longevity of the fresco.

The chemical processes that occur during the creation of the fresco ensured a strong bond between the pigments and the wall. The lime went through several stages: burning the limestone in a kiln (CaCO₃ CaO + CO₂), slaking the quicklime (CaO + H₂O Ca(OH)₂), and setting the lime plaster (Ca(OH)₂ + CO₂ CaCO₃ + H₂O).

Pigments and dyes

Medieval artists used a variety of pigments, both local and imported. Studies of pigments in Giotto’s works show the use of yellow iron earth and lead-tin yellow. Azurite, rather than ultramarine, was used for blue tones. Malachite and the rare green-blue mineral mixite were also found in the blue paint.

At Riga Castle, the frescoes were created primarily from local plaster materials and imported pigments, particularly azurite, malachite, and cinnabar. The Portuguese frescoes at Monsaraz contained mercury sulphide (HgS), red and yellow ochres (Fe₂O₃ and FeO(OH)), carbon black, and azurite.

Some pigments, such as red ochre, shungite and hematite, did not change colour as the plaster dried, while others, including ochre, lapis lazuli and glauconite, became significantly lighter. The master had to take into account the characteristics of each pigment and anticipate the final result.

Themes and iconography

Religious stories

The main part of medieval fresco cycles consisted of religious subjects, primarily biblical and Christian themes. The Byzantine tradition established a strict hierarchy of placement of various subjects in the temple space. Domes were decorated with images of Christ Pantocrator, apses contained scenes related to the liturgy, the walls of the nave were covered with cycles from the life of Christ and the Virgin Mary.

Armenian monumental art was also based mainly on Christian themes. Modern Armenian monumental works were inspired by national traditions and customs of medieval art, often turning to the same thematic motifs. These works were distinguished by the depth of philosophical reflections on the world, the sublimity of man and the primacy of the principle of imagery.

The frescoes of Dečani represent an artistic embodiment of the entire history of salvation. Carefully organized paintings, collected in a coherent program with clear iconography, left no room for uncertainty or misinterpretation of the messages conveyed. The images revealed to the believers the long history of salvation during their stay in the church.

Apocalyptic and eschatological themes

Scenes of the Last Judgment and the fall of demons occupied a special place in medieval iconography. Russian iconography of the Last Judgment, which was finally formed by the second half of the 15th century, became a visual compilation of various motifs. In scenes of the Judgment, demons played a wide range of roles: they lost the battle in heaven and fell to earth, fought for human souls, and tormented sinners in various segments of hell.

The most important visual themes that reflected the transformation of angels into demons as a result of the battle in heaven included defeat by the heavenly host or the Archangel Michael, falling into a river of fire, falling to earth. In the 17th century, all these motifs, including the fall of angels from heaven, were further developed in illuminated miscellanies.

Secular stories

Although religious themes dominated medieval fresco painting, secular subjects were also present. The frescoes in the bedroom of the Palazzo Davizzi-Davanzati in Florence from the late 14th century depict themes from the chivalric romance of the 13th century. Mystery, seduction, betrayal, blackmail, suicide and revenge are themes played out in a narrative frieze against a green landscape with castle buildings set in a continuous arcaded loggia.

In the Portuguese village of Monsaraz, a unique fresco of the "Good and Bad Judge" has been preserved, rare in the context of European Renaissance art. This painting, with two different narratives, is thematically unique in Portugal.

Iconographic programs of different regions

Byzantine tradition

Byzantine fresco painting developed within a strictly canonized iconographic system. Early Byzantine frescoes used static elements, while paintings of the 13th and 14th centuries demonstrate a style with more dynamic elements, such as complex spatial perspectives. Later Byzantine frescoes were more directly influenced by painting techniques from Western Europe.

The main themes depicted in most Byzantine frescoes were biblical or Christian in nature. Frescoes were most often used to decorate the interiors of church domes, walls, and vaults. A large corpus of Byzantine frescoes has survived to this day in what is now Eastern Europe and Asia Minor.

Italian Renaissance Tradition

The Italian Renaissance took fresco art to new heights. In the 15th century, Italian artists widely decorated the interiors of churches and other buildings with complex fresco cycles, enriching them with new techniques, elements, and stylistic features.

The Paduan fresco cycles of the 14th century illustrate an important exchange of ideas between leading figures in science, literature, and the visual arts in the pre-humanist climate of the early 14th century. New exchanges of ideas also took place between the commissioners of the works and the artists from other Italian cities who were invited to Padua to collaborate on the various fresco cycles.

Innovations in the depiction of pictorial space included exploration of the possibilities of perspective and trompe l’oeil effects. Innovations in the depiction of states of feeling were based on an increased interest in the realistic depiction of human emotions and the integration of the new role of the patron-customer.

Russian monastic tradition

Novgorod monastery churches of the second half of the 14th century demonstrate a tendency to gradually abandon external extensions with an increase in the division of the western part of the nave. The iconographic program of the narthex in the Assumption Church of the Archbishop’s Volotovsky Monastery served as a kind of prelude to the decoration of the main space and corresponded to the beginning of the Assumption Vespers according to the traditions of the Palaeologan Renaissance.

The less "theological" program of the narthex of the Church of the Savior in the Kovalevsky Monastery, whose founders were Novgorod boyars, emphasized the connection between the healing of body and soul with salvation in Christ. This indicated a commitment to local liturgical traditions, as well as the influence of the artistic culture of the Western Balkans.

The nature of the female images in these monasteries correlated with the type of monastery: Volotovo was a monastery for men, while Kovalevo was probably of a mixed type. The unusual placement of the monastery theme in the choir painting of another suburban monastery church, Nativity on Krasnoye Pole, is related to the purpose of the monastery associated with it, which served a large cemetery.

Stylistic features and artistic techniques

Coloristic solutions

Scientific studies of medieval frescoes have revealed interesting patterns in the use of color. Differences in the use of color between classical paintings and photographs have been found, as well as significantly lower color diversity in the medieval period. The fractal dimension of the medieval period has been found to be lower than that of other periods.

Romanesque frescoes were characterized by very bright, mostly primary colors. Nowadays, these colors can usually be seen in their original brightness only in examples of stained glass and well-preserved manuscripts. Stained glass became widespread during the Romanesque period.

Spatial solutions and composition

The increase in roughness as painting techniques such as chiaroscuro and sfumato developed corresponds to historical circumstances. The artists showed great skill in giving visual form to new ideas, and their technical ability allowed the Paduan fresco cycles not only to become a model for others, but also to demonstrate remarkable resistance to the passage of time.

The frescoes of Dečani could not avoid differences, and it is necessary to study more closely the personal impact that the artists and the art guilds that worked here had. Over the years, a large number of artists imprinted their personal beliefs and skills in Dečani, trying to bring them closer and harmonize them.

Conservation and restoration

Preservation issues

Medieval frescoes are exposed to various destructive factors over the centuries. The exonarthex of Gračanica was repeatedly damaged during the turbulent and destructive centuries (14th, 15th, 16th centuries). It was probably painted with frescoes after its construction (around 1330), but there are no physical remains or written sources to indicate this.

Extensive areas of chromatic loss indicate that the artist used a mixed painting technique (fresco and secco). This creates additional challenges for restorers, as different techniques require different conservation approaches.

Modern research methods

Modern scientific methods allow for a deep study of the materials and techniques of medieval frescoes. Elemental and chemical analysis is carried out using scanning electron microscopy with an energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometer, optical microscopy, micro-Raman spectroscopy and infrared microspectroscopy with Fourier transformation.

Research on the frescoes in Riga Castle has shown that the fresco in question was created primarily from local plaster materials and imported pigments. The restorers gained combined knowledge of the materials during pre-restoration research and during the restoration process.

Restoration methods

The restoration and painting of Serbian monasteries during the Ottoman rule is significant, as these themes are underrepresented in Serbian art history. The iconographic analysis of the scenes dedicated to the glorification of the Virgin Mary in the exonarthex of Gračanica, as well as their theological basis, require special attention.

The restoration work and the possible iconographic significance of the surviving fragments of medieval painting are also discussed in modern studies. The management of monuments containing fresco cycles requires close coordination between the various organizations that own the building complexes.

The modern management system has established close coordination between the various bodies that own the building complexes that house the fresco cycles. From the independent management of four different bodies, a model of joint management has been created, in which the city council presides over a committee.