Renaissance Discoveries: The Art of Fresco

Fresco painting was the most prestigious artistic medium of the Italian Renaissance. All of the big names in Italian painting, from Giotto in the 1300s to Michelangelo two centuries later, solidified their reputations with masterpieces in fresco. The technique was simple in conception—painting with watercolours on wet plaster—but notoriously difficult in execution. In this video we look at the history and technology of fresco painting, from the ancient cultures of the Mediterranean to Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel.