The Painting's On The Wall

Once practised by Michelangelo, Raphael and da Vinci, the art of fresco creation has changed little in 1,000 years. Marsha O'Mahony meets the artists following in their footsteps

- Marsha O'Mahony

At the unveiling of the Sistine Chapel’s most famous fresco in 1508, Pope Julius II, who commissioned the work, was rendered speechless. More than 500 years later, Michelangelo’s cornerstone of the High Renaissance continues to inspire awe and wonder. Fresco artists of the 21st century are walking in the footsteps of such masters, creating the illusion of space and time through luminosity of colour and the telling of stories. It remains a potent, if not exclusive, force in art.

Leading fresco artist Fleur Kelly was taught the technique by Leonetto Tintori, one of Italy’s best-known restorers of these works. Her artistic coming of age in 1960s London didn’t bode well for this young woman looking for a different aesthetic, including materials; fresco was certainly not on the curriculum. After spending several years as a potter and painter, her experience with Tintori changed the course of her life. Today, her commissioned work—including panel and casein (an adhesive and binder, traditionally made with sour milk) painting, both intimate and grand—can be seen gracing Eaton Square sitting rooms, the Tower of London, Oxford Colleges, the Palace of Westminster, churches and Romano-British sites, including St Albans’s Verulamium.

Mrs Kelly’s materials and techniques are little-changed from those of Michelangelo and traditional fresco, painting pigment onto damp lime mortar. The longevity of the fresco is a result of the mortar carbonating with lime, locking in the pigment forever and creating an art form more durable than any other. The tools have scarcely evolved over the centuries: with only a trowel, float and brushes, the artist can be seen most often up scaffolding towers, painting deliberately before the mortar dries.