intonaco

[ in-ton-uh-koh, -taw-nuh-; Italian een-taw-nah-kaw ]

noun

, plural in·to·na·cos, Italian in·to·na·ci [een-, taw, -nah-chee].

1. (formerly in fresco painting) the last and finest coat of plaster, usually applied in sections and painted while still damp with colors ground in water or a lime-water mixture.

Word History and Origins

Origin of intonaco¹

1800–10; < Italian, noun derivative of intonacare to coat, equivalent to in- in- ² + Vulgar Latin *tunicāre, by construal of Latin tunicātus “wearing a tunic” as a ptp; tunic, -ate ¹

Example Sentences

The Descent of the Holy Spirit is greatly ruined, and in the Ascension the intonaco has peeled off, showing the bricks, so that the apostles have the appearance of looking over a wall.

From Project Gutenberg

The slow drying of the intonaco gave Michelangelo all the time he needed to correct his shadows without having to use the washes of black pigment and glue size that the critics believe to be his handiwork.

From Time Magazine Archive

It is done in water- soluble pigments on freshly laid sections of damp plaster -- the intonaco.

From Time Magazine Archive

Two kinds of intonaco are used, one hard and white, the other grey and sandier.

From Project Gutenberg

Andrea introduced the practice of covering the fa�ades of houses and palaces with an intonaco of lime mixed with the black of ground charcoal, or rather, burnt straw, on which intonaco, when still fresh, he spread a layer of white plaster.

From Project Gutenberg