"Kurt and Paul did the Venetian plastering of a long, cathedral-ceilinged wall running from our dining area through the living room. They were punctual, stuck to the budget they quoted us, and took great care with protecting the rugs and furniture. I liked the way they offered us alternative ways of approaching the job and explained the choices clearly while letting us make the final decisions. The results were beautiful, and I would recommend them to anyone  for this kind of wall treatment."

~Ditty Nicolaides & Ernie Jurick
Portland, OR

Kurt and Paul spent hours with us patiently going over color choices for every room. They had a wide array of sample chips and were very helpful without being the least bit pushy. We had originally asked for a ragging technique for the walls in the salon above the wooden wainscoting. Kurt suggested a Venetian plaster and showed us a sample. It added . . . to the price, but it was well worth it. Kurt spent hours prepping the walls, applying the plaster in coats, and then burnishing the surface with a trowel to give it a textured appearance. The room looks fantastic! Their paint work was equally skilled; the cut lines are absolutely perfect, and the transformation from plain white walls to warm colors throughout is amazing. MAGGIE LYNCH

Ancient History of Venetian Plaster

Limestone is one of the world’s most common materials, readily available worldwide. It has been used for thousands of years as the main component of stucco, mortar and plasterwork. The pyramids of Egypt contain plasterwork from at least 3000 B.C.E. showing a remarkable level of refinement. According to 19th-century authority William Miller, in his book Plastering Plain and Decorative, in Pompeii, and later ancient Rome, the craft of plastering reached new heights with the introduction of multi-layered plaster using fine marble dust as an aggregate. The final coats were burnished and colored either integrally, or a fresco. Architect and engineer Vitruvius described a seven-step process for producing a finished wall in the first century B.C.E. Several layers of coarse plaster leveled the rough Roman masonry and acted as a base for the finer finishing layers that included finely ground marble dust. The walls were then soaped and waxed to protect them. The finishes were called opus marmoratum owing to their marble-like hardness and beauty.

Vitruvius describes a seven-step process for making Venetian plaster, where several layers of coarse plaster leveled the rough Roman masonry and acted as a base for the finer finishing layers that included finely ground marble dust.

The process remained essentially unchanged through two millennia. It was rediscovered during the Italian Renaissance, acquiring the name “marmorino.” “Pietra d’Istria” was its moniker when revived again by Palladio in 18th- and 19th-century Venice. The latter name referred to the pure white marble that was used as the aggregate. The processes remained faithful to the ancients through the 1950s, when it had another revival by the Italian architect, Carlo Scarpa. However, he also introduced some significant changes, diverging from the traditional craft, and creating a new type of finish.

In conjunction with his craftsman Eugenio De Luigi, Scarpa created “Pastellone Scarpiano,” also known as Stucco Lustro. This was the precursor to today’s synthetic Venetian plaster. It was made with fine marble dust as per the ancients, but replaced the lime matrix at first with hide glues and other materials, and later with acrylic resins. This substitution was an elemental change, since lime-based plasters take advantage of what is known as the “Circle of Lime.” This is the unique ability of limestone to transform from raw stone into kiln-fired quicklime through slaking with water into a thick putty. Once applied to a wall and combined with marble dust, it converts back into limestone. Lime-plastered walls re-crystallize over time by absorbing carbon dioxide from the air, chemically changing back into limestone, while acquiring the hardness and crystalline beauty unlike that of any other finish.

Not all Venetian Plaster is the same. Some procedures are recognized as 'classics' in the Italian tradition, and different regions of Italian have their own techniques. They each have different formulas and are known by many names and: Stucco ad Encaustic, Grassello, Marmorino, Intonachino, Coccio Pesto, and Stucco Fiorentino. Most of the formulas are closely kept secrets, passed down in families and among craftsmen much like in the days of the Guilds and studios of the Renaissance.

Portland, Oregon Faux Finishing