Art, obsession, and identity
Arguably the most famous frescoes in the world are those decorating the interior of the Sistine Chapel at the Apostolic Palace in Vatican City. Commissioned by Pope Julius, the frescoes were painted by Michelangelo between 1508 and 1512.
Italian Renaissance artist Raphael painted 'Disputation of the Holy Sacrament' between 1509 and 1510. It decorates one of the rooms that are now known as the Stanze di Raffaello, in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican.
Visitors to the Dominican church of Santa Maria Novella in Florence, Italy, can admire the fresco known as 'The Holy Trinity' by Masaccio. Probably completed in 1427, the fresco stands as a fine example of early Renaissance painting, with Masaccio himself noted for radically transforming Florentine painting.
'The Crucifixion of St. Peter' (seen on the right of this photograph) is the chapel's second fresco. Completed in 1550, this is the last-ever fresco executed by Michelangelo.
Piero della Francesca's 1460 'Madonna del Parto' is the most famous fresco depicting the Virgin Mary as pregnant. The iconic wall painting is on display in the Museum of Monterchi, in Italy's Arezzo province.
Arguably the greatest example of quadratura, or illusionistic ceiling painting, found anywhere, 'Apotheosis of Saint Ignatius' was created by the Jesuit lay brother Andrea Pozzo in 1694 to decorate the ceiling of the Jesuit Church of St. Ignatius of Loyola in Rome.
'The Last Supper' is one of the Western world's most recognizable paintings and ranks among Leonardo da Vinci's most celebrated accomplishments. Completed in 1498, it's found in the Santa Maria delle Grazie convent in Milan, Italy.
'The School of Athens,' painted by Raphael between 1509 and 1511, features Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo in the painting, shown as Plato and Heraclitus respectively. It can also be admired in the Stanze di Raffaello, in the Apostolic Palace.
The largest elements of Giotto's work are the cycles showing the 'Life of Christ' and the 'Life of the Virgin.' Pictured is the panel depicting 'The Flight into Egypt.'
The Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, Italy—part of the Musei Civici di Padova—contains a fresco cycle by Italian artist Giotto, completed around 1305. These frescoes marked the beginning of a revolution in mural painting and influenced fresco technique, style, and content for a whole century.
The Dominican friar and Italian artist Fra Angelico painted 'The Annunciation' between 1440 and 1445. It's one of 50 frescoes found in the Convent of San Marco in Florence.
The 'Toreador Fresco,' also known as the 'Bull-Leaping Fresco,' was originally sited on a wall at the palace at Knossos in Crete. It dates back to around 1450 BCE and is now on display in the island's Heraklion Archaeological Museum.
Another dazzling fresco adorning the walls of the Vatican's Stanze di Raffaello is 'The Expulsion of Heliodorus from the Temple.' It was completed by Raphael in 1512.
'The Investiture of Zimri-Lim' is a large fresco discovered at the Royal Palace of the ancient city-state of Mari in eastern Syria. The mural, likely created c. 1775 BCE, is on display at the Louvre in Paris.
The central chamber of the Shahi Hammam, a Turkish bath built in Lahore, Pakistan, in 1635, features an outstanding series of Mughal-era frescoes on the dome and walls.
The wonderfully vivid frescoes of the Sigiriya rock fortress in central Sri Lanka were painted during the reign of King Kashyapa (477–495 CE).
The Israel Museum is custodian to a remarkable piece of history, a fragmented wall fresco retrieved from a 12th-century abbey, painted during the time of the Crusades. It's the largest painting ever to come out of an archaeological excavation in Israel, and depicts a scene with Jesus sitting in the center, Mary on his right, and John the Baptist to his left.
Scholars declared the 'Akrotiri Boxer' fresco one of the finest examples of Minoan painting when it was discovered in 1967. It's one of the wall paintings of Thera unearthed at Akrotiri on the Greek island of Santorini. The ancient pugilists can today be admired at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens.
Also discovered at Akrotiri was the amazing 'Room of Spring,' sometimes also referred to as the 'Room of Lilies.' This has also been carefully relocated to the National Archaeological Museum of Athens.
Some of the most vivid and best-preserved frescoes from antiquity are those discovered at Pompeii, which was founded in the 7th–6th century BCE. Pictured is the famous fresco depicting a portrait of Terentius Neo and his wife, probably created in 20–30 CE.
Perhaps the most celebrated scene within the highly complex ceiling design is 'The Creation of Adam.' It illustrates the biblical creation narrative from the Book of Genesis in which God gives life to Adam, the first man.
Etruscan frescoes found in the Tomb of Orcus at Tarquinia in Central Italy date back to the 4th century BCE. While time hasn't been kind to much of the artwork, a figure of a warrior can clearly be made out.
The frescoes adorning the walls and ceilings of the Ajanta Caves in Maharashtra, India, are regarded as masterpieces of Buddhist religious art, and the finest surviving examples of ancient Indian art. The work dates back to anywhere from the 2nd century BCE to about 480 CE.
Some of the most celebrated murals of the modern era were created in Mexico. This fresco by Diego Rivera, part of the artist's enormous 'History of Mexico' mural found at the National Palace in Mexico City, represents the arrival in Vera Cruz in 1519 of the Spanish Conquistador Hernán Cortés.
Sources: (Classical Wisdom) (Britannica)
See also: The stories of art's most alluring muses
The Boyana Church near Sofia in Bulgaria is world famous for its medieval frescoes. They date back mostly to the 11th and 12th centuries, but authorship is not claimed by a single artist. Rather, the name "Boyana Master" stands for the team of unknown artists who decorated the church.
The earliest known fresco was found in Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis in Egypt and dates back to around c.3500-3200 BCE. Pictured is a copy of the ancient artwork.
Michelangelo's equally stunning 'The Last Judgment' covers the whole altar wall of the Sistine Chapel. It took over four years to complete between 1536 and 1541, a full 25 years after he completed the chapel's ceiling.
Decorating the dome of the Cathedral of Parma in Italy is Antonio Allegri da Correggio's 'Assumption of the Virgin.' Completed in 1530, the fresco illustrates the Virgin Mary's joyful reunion with her son. It also visualizes key Catholic doctrines and celebrates the city's reintegration into the Papal States.
'The Conversion of Saul,' completed in 1545, is one of two frescoes painted by Michelangelo decorating the interior of the Capella Paolina, adjacent the Apostolic Palace. It depicts the moment Saul is converted to Christianity while on the road to Damascus.
The art world is blessed by numerous examples of what's known as a fresco. "Fresco" is a technique of mural painting by which earth pigments are painted directly on fresh, wet, lime plaster. Indeed, the word fresco is derived from the Italian adjective fresco meaning "fresh." The origins of this unique art form can be traced back to antiquity. The most celebrated frescoes, however, were created during the Renaissance era by masters such as Raphael, Michelangelo, and Leonardo da Vinci.
But how exactly did this deceptively simple painting technique evolve, and where can you admire some of history's most famous frescoes? Click through and get in the frame with one of the oldest-known forms of art.
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The art world is blessed by numerous examples of what's known as a fresco. "Fresco" is a technique of mural painting by which earth pigments are painted directly on fresh, wet, lime plaster. Indeed, the word fresco is derived from the Italian adjective fresco meaning "fresh." The origins of this unique art form can be traced back to antiquity. The most celebrated frescoes, however, were created during the Renaissance era by masters such as Raphael, Michelangelo, and Leonardo da Vinci.
But how exactly did this deceptively simple painting technique evolve, and where can you admire some of history's most famous frescoes? Click through and get in the frame with one of the oldest-known forms of art.