▪ I. fresco, n.
(ˈfrɛskəʊ)
Also 6–7 frisco; pl. frescos, -oes.
[ad. It. fresco cool, fresh.]
† 1. a. Cool, fresh air; occas. a fresh breeze. in fresco: in the fresh air. Obs. Cf. alfresco.
| 1620 Brent tr. Sarpi's Hist. Counc. Trent (1629) 410 There being a custome amongst the people of Paris, in the Summers euenings, to goe out of the Suburbes of S. German in great multitudes, to take the fresco. 1630 B. Jonson New Inn iv. ii, Come, let us take in fresco, here, one quart. 1644 Evelyn Diary 4 Nov., Here, in summer, the gentle⁓men of Rome take the fresco in their coaches and on foot. 1698 Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 12 We had a promising Fresco, but somewhat chilled by too frequent Calms. Ibid. 335 As they sit in Frisco. 1740 Gray Lett. Wks. 1884 II. 82 They..walk about the city, or upon the sea-shore..to enjoy the fresco. 1785 S. Fielding Ophelia II. i, I..was..overtaken by Mrs. Herner, in fresco as before. |
| attrib. 1742 H. Walpole Let. 26 May (1857) I. 167 We have as much waterworks and fresco diversions, as if we lay ten degrees nearer warmth. |
† b. ‘It has been sometimes used for any cool refreshing liquor’ (T.).
Obs.—0| [1880 C. R. Markham Peruv. Bark 7 Fevers, which they treat with frescos or cooling drinks.] |
2. a. A kind of painting executed in water-colour on a wall, ceiling, etc. of which the mortar or plaster is not quite dry, so that the colours sink in and become more durable.
Orig. in phrase
(to paint) in fresco. Also
transf.| 1598 R. H[aydocke] tr. Lomatius' Artes Paintinge, etc. iii. iv. 99 Which wil cause the colours in Frisco to continue as faire as if they were laid while the chalke is fresh. [1644 Evelyn Diary 21 Oct., The houses..are..excellently painted, à fresco on the outer walls.] Ibid. 22 Oct., To this church joins a convent, whose cloister is painted in fresco very rarely. 1688 R. Holme Armoury iii. 147/1 Frescoe, or Wall Painting; some call it seiling. 1749 Stack in Phil. Trans. XLVI. 14 The Paintings..in Herculaneum..are all done in Stucco in Water-colours in Fresco. 1843 Ruskin Let. 21 Sept. in Atlantic Monthly LXVIII. 740 It is not the love of fresco that we want. 1870 Emerson Soc. & Solit., Domestic Life Wks. (Bohn) III. 54 The grand sibyls..painted in fresco by Michel Angelo. 1883 ‘Ouida’ (title) Frescoes, etc., dramatic sketches. 1899 Daily News 28 Mar. 6/1 Florence has often been sketched before, putting Browning aside with his astounding fresco-music. 1933 A. MacLeish (title) Frescoes for Mr. Rockefeller's city. 1966 Listener 23 June 924/2 This impressive musical fresco for string orchestra. |
b. A painting so executed.
| 1670 R. Lassels Voy. Ital. i. 238 The Library, painted with a rare Fresco, which is yet ravishing and lively after two hundred years. 1717 Pope Ep. Jervas 34 A fading Fresco here demands a sigh. 1797 Monthly Mag. III. 347 The beautiful frescoes that decorate the walls. 1870 F. R. Wilson Ch. Lindisf. 91 This church is represented in one of the famed frescoes at Wallington Hall. |
c. attrib. and
Comb., as
fresco-paint,
fresco-painting,
fresco-plaster,
fresco-wall;
fresco buono = buon fresco;
fresco secco = secco B.
n.| 1843, 1886, *Fresco buono [see fresco secco below]. |
| 1842–5 Browning Waring i. vi, We are on the brink Of something great in *fresco-paint. |
| 1683 Evelyn Diary 16 June, The incomparable *fresco painting in St. George's Hall. 1879 Sir G. Scott Lect. Archit. I. 213 Let us take advantage of the lessons it affords us in..fresco painting. |
| 1843 Ecclesiologist II. 19 The use of *fresco-plaister in very early buildings. |
| 1843 W. B. S. Taylor Man. Fresco & Encaustic Painting vii. 122 Fresco secco..cannot be placed in the same elevated rank as fresco buono. 1886 H. C. Standage Artists' Man. Pigments xii. 104 Describe the difference between ‘fresco secco’ and ‘fresco buono’. 1957 Fresco secco [see buon fresco]. |
| 1877 M. M. Grant Sun-Maid iv, It was a lofty room with beautiful old *fresco walls and ceiling. |
▪ II. fresco, v. (
ˈfrɛskəʊ)
[f. prec. n.] trans. To paint in fresco.
| 1849 Rock Ch. of Fathers I. iii. 202 The Donation of Constantine, frescoed in the Vatican. 1893 Pall Mall Mag. II. 345/2 We do not..fresco our azure ceiling with angels. |
Hence
ˈfrescoed ppl. a.,
ˈfrescoing vbl. n. Also
ˈfrescoer,
ˈfrescoist, one who paints in fresco.
| 1849 Ruskin Sev. Lamps i. §7. 15 Have we no..frescoed fancies on our roofs? 1859 Sat. Rev. VIII. 73/1 Many a mute inglorious frescoist has only waited his hour. 1882 Fraser's Mag. XXVI. 59 The frescoed Parnassus gradually emerges from out of the dark wall. 1882 Harper's Mag. Dec. 46/2 Some leisurely prisoner of the frescoer's trade. 1885 Ibid. Mar. 609/1 The original frescoing of walls and ceilings..was the work of a..soldier. |