Venetian plaster is enjoying a popular revival with the
modern renaissance of Italian wall finishes. These finishes while new to some,
possess a lineage dating back thousands of years to the early civilizations of Mesopotamia.
Unrefined clay plasters were replaced with a mixture of raw lime and crushed
limestone. These plasters were sometimes painted with lime paints or indeed
used as a base for more elaborate frescoes.
From the remains of the Roman villas of Pompei and other
excavated buildings of the time, we can see how the use of these plasters had
spread and changed. The Romans knew the benefits of using burnt lime which was
than was then slaked (properly mixed with water) and then left to age so as to
improve workability. Much of their techniques have been learned from the
writings of Marcus Vitruvius in “De Architecture”. Unearthed in the 15th
century it documents the building and architectural practices of Rome
1BC. Walls were plastered with 3 coats of a sand and lime mixture followed by 3
coat of a fine marble dust and lime mix to make a smooth polished finish.
Whilst the plaster was wet, colors were then introduced to provide a strong,
easy to clean decorative surface.
It was the rediscovery of these practices that gave way to
their widespread use in 15th century Venice.
The lagoon area of Venice had an
abundance of wealth and a newly found appetite for classical architecture. At
the time, transporting sand around the lagoon was difficult and expensive,
there was also an abundance of waste terra cotta from the brick industry and
recycling of old roof tiles. So plaster renders were made instead with ground
terra cotta and hydraulic lime to make a highly breathable surface well suited
to the damp atmosphere of the lagoon area. There was also a great deal of stone
and marble waste, this was then ground, combined with lime to create fine
plaster finishes or Marmorino. These were often left white to mimic the stone
of Istria (modern day Croatia)
which was favored by Venetian builders, or painted with frescoes to mimic more
exotic marble. Another favorable outcome for the sinking city was that the
weight of the Marmorino was considerably less than the classic Roman style of
using slab pieces of stone or marble.
Interest in Venetian plaster diminished from the late 19th
century until the more recently with their use by renown architect Carlo Scarpa
in the 1950′s, 60′s and 70′s. At the moment there is a worldwide resurgence of
Venetian plasters being used internally and externally on public buildings, new
offices, shops, hotels, and private residences. Whilst some plasters are now
made with synthetic acrylic resins. Many still hold true to the original recipe
of lime and marble powder, with the inclusion of adhesives so as to be used on
modern building surfaces such as drywall.
