and used it lavishly for interior work. They molded delicate patterns in relief in the wet plaster or painted them with pictures or ornaments in fresco, tempera or encaustic pigments. It is unnecessary to quote the numerous examples of the use of stucco in Italy in ancient times. Its use has passed down to the Celts, the Gauls, the Teutons and the Slavs, and there is hardly a Celtic or Gallic-Roman build
ing in which the remains of stucco-coating polished and with decorative designs are not found either with or without color.
During the Middle Ages building methods suffered the same fate as the arts, and the rare fragments of monuments of the early centuries show us nothing but coarse coatings and stucco members made of very inferior materials, badly dressed and covered with rude paintings. They no longer presented the beautiful polish or the solidity that mark the stucco of Greek antiquity and the best periods of the Roman epoch.
The Renaissance revived the use of plaster and greatly extended its decorative application both by fresco painting and by relief ornaments and sculpture. The frescoes of Italian masters done at that
time have never been surpassed. It was an art demanding the quintessence of skill on the part of the worker. The work had to be done rapidly while the plaster was wet, so that upon hardening, the decoration became an integral part of the actual material. The colors were mixed to allow for a subtle change in their drying on the wet plaster, and once a mark was made it could not be done over.
Among the relief work done on plaster, sgraffito was conspicuous. This was also executed while the plaster was in process of hardening. It consisted, essentially, of laying a dark coat of plaster and upon it applying a coat of stucco. On this the worker executed his design, cutting and scraping it to reveal the dark subsurface. This also required expeditious handling before the stucco might have time to dry and harden.
In the 17th century the English began to use plaster extensively, too often as a substitute for solid masonry construction. The practice led to much trivial architecture and sham construction, and, it is regretted, became very general in the United
PLASTERWORK IN ST. JAMES CHURCH, NEW YORK CITY
LUDLOW & PEABODY, ARCHITECTS
DINING ROOM CEILING, FORDE ABBEY, DORSET
SHIRE, ENGLAND
ing in which the remains of stucco-coating polished and with decorative designs are not found either with or without color.
During the Middle Ages building methods suffered the same fate as the arts, and the rare fragments of monuments of the early centuries show us nothing but coarse coatings and stucco members made of very inferior materials, badly dressed and covered with rude paintings. They no longer presented the beautiful polish or the solidity that mark the stucco of Greek antiquity and the best periods of the Roman epoch.
The Renaissance revived the use of plaster and greatly extended its decorative application both by fresco painting and by relief ornaments and sculpture. The frescoes of Italian masters done at that
time have never been surpassed. It was an art demanding the quintessence of skill on the part of the worker. The work had to be done rapidly while the plaster was wet, so that upon hardening, the decoration became an integral part of the actual material. The colors were mixed to allow for a subtle change in their drying on the wet plaster, and once a mark was made it could not be done over.
Among the relief work done on plaster, sgraffito was conspicuous. This was also executed while the plaster was in process of hardening. It consisted, essentially, of laying a dark coat of plaster and upon it applying a coat of stucco. On this the worker executed his design, cutting and scraping it to reveal the dark subsurface. This also required expeditious handling before the stucco might have time to dry and harden.
In the 17th century the English began to use plaster extensively, too often as a substitute for solid masonry construction. The practice led to much trivial architecture and sham construction, and, it is regretted, became very general in the United
PLASTERWORK IN ST. JAMES CHURCH, NEW YORK CITY
LUDLOW & PEABODY, ARCHITECTS
DINING ROOM CEILING, FORDE ABBEY, DORSET
SHIRE, ENGLAND