The ancient definition of Stucco

The ancient definition of Stucco

Giorgio Vasari (painter, architect and art writer, Arezzo 1511 - Florence 1574) wrote about Giovanni from Udine, the great artist, Raffaello's pupil, master stucco decorator, a specialist in 'grotesque' decorations:

«finally crushed pieces from the whitest possible marble, made it in tiny powder and sifted it, so he melted it with white travertine lime, and found that without any doubt it was the way to make the true ancient stucco with all those parts he wished in it»
(Travertine: calcareous rock coming from soluble calcium bicarbonate rich waters deposite
that becomes insoluble bicarbonate)

Again Giorgio Vasari describes roman stucco composition:

«in a stone mortar they crush marble chips; they can't use if not white lime, made by marble or travertine chips; and instead of sand they would take crushed marble, tiny sifted and melted with lime, proportion would be two parts of lime and one of crushed marble and would make thicker and thinner, as they would like to work it.»

In Vitruvio and Plinio, stucco is defined "albarium opus or albarium".
It literally means: the white, i.e. stucco, plaster.

It's interesting to notice that stucco was properly white, coming from slaked lime and white marble or stone powder melted. At that time 'to give the white' was meaning to plaster them with stucco (white faux finishing). With the Romans, in fact, plaster coloration was made mostly fresh and not during the melting, which will be widely done since XVIII century.