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We work in the tradition of Cimabue and Giotto — not as pastiche, but as living practice. True buon fresco demands the wall itself receive pigment while plaster breathes. This irreversible communion between art and architecture is our discipline, our obsession, and our gift to every space we touch.
We paint exclusively into freshly laid plaster — the ancient method that bonds pigment at the molecular level. Each day's work is final, demanding total mastery and absolute intention.
Synthetic dyes fade, but earth minerals endure centuries. We source every hue — azurite, malachite, ochre, lapis — from the same quarries that supplied the Renaissance masters.
No two walls are alike. We study light, proportion, and purpose for months before lifting a brush. The mural must feel as if it grew from the architecture, not applied upon it.
Our principals trained under the conservation teams of the Vatican Museums and the Uffizi. Restoration and creation are one practice: you cannot make what you cannot preserve.
We accept fewer than eight projects annually. This is not exclusivity for its own sake but necessity: exceptional fresco cannot be rushed, delegated, or manufactured at scale.
A completed INTONACO commission carries our conservation guarantee across three generations. We document every layer, every pigment, every plaster formula for the custodians who follow.
"The wall must breathe. The pigment must sing. And the hand that joins them must know centuries of silence before it speaks."
Founded in Florence in 2012, INTONACO was built on an apprenticeship model recovered from the 15th century workshop system. Every painter who bears our name has completed no fewer than seven years of study — three in traditional fresco technique, two in restoration science, and two under a named master.
Fresco is not applied — it is alchemized. From first conversation to final varnish, each commission unfolds through five essential movements, each as irreversible and precise as the next.
We begin with weeks of dialogue. Architecture is measured, light studied at every hour, historical references assembled. The vision must be total before a single line is drawn.
The full-scale preparatory drawing — the sinopia — is transferred onto brown plaster. The cartoon is then pricked and pounced, transferring the final composition onto each day's fresh surface.
The final plaster layer — the intonaco itself — is laid each morning in the exact area that can be completed by dusk. This giornata rhythm governs the entire enterprise.
Pure mineral pigments suspended in water are applied to the damp plaster with squirrel and hog hair brushes. As the plaster carbonizes, it permanently crystallizes the colour within itself.
Every commission is documented layer by layer — photographic, spectroscopic, and written — and entered into our conservation archive. A care protocol is prepared for the custodian.
Our founder, Maestro Aldo Ferrante, studied under Professor Giorgio Meloni at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze before apprenticing with the Vatican restoration workshop under Professor Marco Torretti. The lineage is traceable, documented, and living.
Principal lineage through Italy's oldest fine art academy, founded 1563
Restoration apprenticeship under Vatican's Laboratorio di Restauro
Every INTONACO painter completes the full traditional formation
INTONACO's pigment research published in the Journal of Cultural Heritage
Every extraordinary commission begins with a single conversation. We review all inquiries personally and respond within 48 hours. Accepted commissions enter a formal consultation period — typically 6–12 weeks — before any contractual agreement.
We maintain a maximum of eight concurrent active commissions to ensure the undivided attention each wall deserves.