The Beauty of Frescoes: Reflections from Florence

If you have just found your way here — hello, and come in.

I wanted this first post to be more of a proper hello than anything too polished, so this is really just me saying welcome — and talking a bit about one of the things I still think about from Florence all the time, which is frescoes.

I am a classically trained artist, and my work tends to wander between custom murals, restoration of church statuary, and oil painting commissions. Which is a slightly odd mix, really, but it does suit me.

so, where did this all begin?

A lot of it goes back to Florence.

I studied there for three years at the Russian Academy. We did analytical drawing, and there was plenty of constructive criticism, which was useful and sometimes a bit brutal if I am honest. While I was there I used to go to mass at Santa Croce quite often during the week, and I completely fell in love with Agnolo Gaddi's frescoes in the main chapel, especially the True Cross cycle.

I have often thought frescoes are really the original wall decoration. Or the first wallpaper, if you like — except better, because they are made for the building itself. They can move around doors, windows, arches, and all the awkward bits of architecture instead of ignoring them. I love that. They do not just sit on a wall. They belong to it.

And in churches they could do so much. They could cover the walls and surround the people there with images from the Holy Scriptures, or stories from the lives of particular saints. They were beautiful, yes, but they also told stories and lifted the whole space. That has always fascinated me.

For a long time I only saw the Gaddi frescoes from a distance. Then when my sister came to visit me in Florence, I took her to see the restoration. A friend of mine was on the restoration team, so we were able to see them properly up close while the work was going on. That really stayed with me. It is such a different experience seeing frescoes mid-restoration. You notice the layers, the wear, the tiny repairs, all the careful judgement involved. So much quiet skill.

one last thought about santa croce

I should also say — and I mean this respectfully — that although I admired the frescoes enormously, I always found some of the big, chunky tombs and graves inside Santa Croce quite difficult to look at. They cut into the murals in a way I found ugly, really. I know that sounds a bit severe, and I do not mean it harshly. Santa Croce is full of important history, and Michelangelo is of course one of the most significant people buried there. But personally, a lot of the other tombs felt intrusive to me, and I often wished the murals had been left more undisturbed.

have a look around?

If you would like to see more, you can browse my mural work, visit my about page, or get in touch if you have an idea in mind.

Thanks for being here for post number one. More soon 🎨