ITALIAN PLASTERS - VENETIAN PLASTER

 

Historical Venetian Plaster is elevated to a new level through the creative work of Giorgio Graesan of Milan, Italy.  The natural glossy characteristics of Venetian stucco are retained while adding today's technology for coloration and speed of application.  Finish options include glossy finish, Marmorino matte finish, pearlescent effects, stencils, and multi color blends.  Authentic Italian lime paster is a wall coating with is bacteria and mold resistant, solvent free, and all mineral.

 

Venetian Plaster allows us to create a unique living space and helps us make your project a one-of-a-kind masterpiece.  Whatever the reason, Venetian Plaster is a favorite among designers, home owners, architects, interior decorators, & building managers when it comes to adding a dramatic touch to interior surfaces.

 

Tintable to any color with universal colorants, Venetian Plaster delivers a sophisticated wall finish that has the appearance of polished stone or marble.  It is applied in three coats by steel trowels with an optional coat of long life wax, which makes the surface water & stain resistant.

 

This high polish isn't the only unique quality; the more you polish the more transluscent the finish becomes.  This transluscency creates the depth seen in real marble and the beautiful finish is so smooth,  it even feels like marble.  In face, Venetian Plaster was formulated to imitate a complicated "Old World" Italian technique called Scagliola used for centuries to create the look of marble on areas where marble could not be installed.  Various looks can be created such as marble, stone, & suede.

 

MARMORINO - ROMAN PLASTER

 

A natural mineral product - approved as an Eco construction material in Europe with optimum breathability 90%-95%, prohibits mold forming bacteria that creates mold, 0%-1.85% VOC (<30g/lt).

 

Marmorino plaster has been in use since Roman times, and is in fact mentioned by the Roman author, Vitruvius, in his writings 100BC, "De Architectura".  Other cultures such as the Egyptians, Ancient Greeks, and the Etruscans, used tinted Marmorino to decorate walls and is still existent on intact walls in these historical sites.  It was used as a finish wall surface on Roman Lime Cement, which was applied 10cm up to permit the absorption of mineral salts from humid walls in contact with the ground, to provide transfer of moisture to the outside, maintain breathability, and structural stability.  Marmorino plaster is an ideal plaster that can withstand centuries of moisture when applied to the external & internal wall surfaces.

 

This technology, as with Antica Calce, disappeared at the end of the Roman Empire and did not resurface until the Middle Ages.  Marble plaster in this time period was used as the first base coat for eventual fresco paintings.  This use of Marmorino plaster, curiously enough, in this time period was limited to the area of Veneto in northern Italy, possibly due to influences from their origins in the Easter Roman Empire. 

 

In the 1400s AD, during the Renaissance, there was a new effort to design and build based on Roman Architecture.  And in this period, re-began the use of smooth finished walls with mineral colors integrated into the lime plasters, to create the undulated colour effect commonly associated with Venetian Plaster.  By the 1500's, Andrea Palladio had brought the use of Marmorino to it's maximum exposure collaborating with Alessando Vittoria as a master plasterer to achieve the fame that Venetian Plaster still has today.  The Inactive Lime (Slaked Lime), as found in Antica Calce (Antique Lime Wash), Marmorino, & Venetian Plaster acts as an

anti-mold/fungus prohibitor.  Being a porous material, but with an extrememly hard surface, & used in conjunction with other porous wall support materials, Marmorino and all Slaked Lime Products used in traditional Roman composition have an incredible capacity to absorb moisture and wick that towards the external walls of the house.

 

Absorbing oxygen & humidity, Marmorino & Slaked Lime products are proven to absorb carbon monoxide and other toxins in your house and passively remove them toward the outside environment.  It is for this reason that the EEC has mandated eventual building code requirements for any Eco Certifications to use these natural materials for the purpose of self cleaning & breathability.  Surprisingly enough, with the right wall construction & use of these materials, Slaked Lime products have natural climate controlling aspects.  You will have noticed this with any travels in Italy upon entering a restored Roman or Renaissance Villa.

 

MARMO ANTICO - TUSCAN PLASTER

 

A natural mineral product - a traditional historical lime stucco for interior & exterior finishes for decorative effects & old world finishes.  Approved as an Eco construction material in Europe with optimum breathability 90%-95%, prohibits mold forming bacteria, 0%-1.85% VOC (<30g/lt).

 

Marmo Antico, also known as Tuscan Plaster, could be considered an Italian farmer's or poor man's stucco.  The basic ingredients of this material, unline Marmorino & Grassello di Calce, is that the marble grains are not ground to a very fine powder.  Instead, the marble grains are typical of milled sized grains associated with grains of most sands, averaging about .07 per grain.  Very fine powdered marble during the Medieval & Renaissance would have required subsequent man hours to produce, thus the cost of finely powdered marble dust was not a material that could be afforded by the masses.

 

Nevertheless, the essential elements of this product is Slaked Lime material & marble grains, & these materials have resisted the elements & the wear of time & still can be easily found in most rural towns & villages in historical buildings all over Italy.  Lime washes perform particularly well when applied to these types of surfaces because of their high permeability.  They permit the crystallization of the marble & paint pigment minerals to form subtle but very sensual mottled effects that do not occur on any other stucco or mineral surfaces.  This permits Lime Wash to be at its best. 

 

Marmo Antico can also be tinted without the need to apply Lime Wash by a skilled artisan & can be manipulated to create stone-like effects, like unfilled Travertine marble.

 

Material Composition:  Slaked Lime, Marble dust, & Paint color are created by the use of concentrated natural earth minerals, a small amount of binding resin, & water.

 

PLASTER TECHNIQUES & FINISHES

 

- Aging: whitewashing, color washing, tinted varnish, tinted wax

- Plaster: Venetian plasters, marmo, scraffito, fresco, teodorico, French plaster, Lusterstone, Plasterx, Sandstone & other specialty plasters & clays

- Stencils: friezes, borders, over-all patterns, grisaille, polychrome & gilded, on floors, walls, & ceilings

 

AREAS OF APPLICATION

 

Lobbies, reception areas, conference rooms, commericial or residential, in place of stone & other expensive veneer materials.