Answer to Question #280159 in History for Yen

Question

Describe and explain the process of creating a Fresco Mural. Afterwards, explain how each artist, Diego Rivera and Michelangelo, express their ideas and realities of their environment and era.

Answer 1

Fresco is a technique of mural painting done upon wet lime plaster. Water is used to merge dry powder pigment with the plaster and the painting becomes an integral part of the wall.

The process usually starts by grinding dry-powder pigments in pure water and set with the plaster to become a permanent part of the wall.

Diego Rivera

Diego Rivera created popular political murals throughout Mexico that included attacks on the ruling class, the church and capitalism.

After studying in Paris, Rivera got exposed to different painting styles and movements. He met the Cubist master, Pablo Picasso in 1914 who influenced his work. He changed his work after being inspired by the work of Cezanne and began to make post-Impressionist paintings using simple shapes and vivid colors and his work attracted more attention and some was exhibited.

After studying in Italy, he experimented with frescoes and returned to Mexico, where he became involved with a government mural program in 1921.

Shortly after joining the Revolutionary Union of Technical Workers, Painters and Sculptors he started painting his murals in fresco. Rivera believed that painting murals on the walls of public buildings made art accessible to the everyday man. His murals focused on story telling.

Michelangelo

Michelangelo primarily was interested in encompassing concrete figures within an outside shell. He was interested in religious themes and focused mostly on the image of Christ in his drawings. He frequently drew the same images until the emotion in his pieces became intense.