{{Short description|Art technique involving scratching}}{{italic title}} {{Use mdy|date= January 2026}} {{more citations needed|date=October 2015}} [[File:Maturino4.jpg|thumb|Palazzo Massimo Istoriato: a fading palace facade in Rome by Polidoro da Caravaggio and Maturino da Firenze, 1523]] [[File:Elaboración de Esgrafiado.jpg|thumb|alt=Artist from Pedraza creates a sgraffito mural at the Casa de los Picos School of Art and Design, Segovia|Artist from Pedraza creates a sgraffito mural at the Casa de los Picos School of Art and Design, Segovia]] [[File:Pyrgi Sgraffito 1910.jpg|thumb|Layers of 1910 Sgraffito in Pirgy (Chios)]]
{{lang|it|'''Sgraffito'''}} ({{IPA|it|zɡrafˈfiːto|lang}}; {{pl.}} {{lang|it|sgraffiti}}) is an artistic or decorative technique of scratching through a coating on a hard surface to reveal parts of an underlying layer contrasted in colour. It is produced on walls by applying layers of plaster tinted in contrasting colours to a moistened surface, and on pottery by applying two successive layers of contrasting slip or glaze to an unfired ceramic body.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url= http://elearn.hawk-hhg.de/projekte/ewaglos/pages/download.php |title= Sgraffito |last1= Weyer |first1= Angela |last2= Roig Picazo |first2= Pilar |last3= Pop |first3= Daniel |last4= Cassar |first4= JoAnn |last5= Özköse |first5= Aysun |last6= Jean-Marc |first6= Vallet |last7= Srša |first7= Ivan |editor-last1= Weyer |editor-first1= Angela |editor-last2= Roig Picazo |editor-first2= Pilar |editor-last3= Pop |editor-first3= Daniel |editor-last4= Cassar |editor-first4= JoAnn |editor-last5= Özköse |editor-first5= Aysun |editor-last6= Vallet |editor-first6= Jean-Marc |editor-last7= Srša |editor-first7= Ivan |display-authors= 3 |display-editors= 3 |encyclopedia= EwaGlos. European Illustrated Glossary Of Conservation Terms For Wall Paintings And Architectural Surfaces. |year= 2015 |publisher= Michael Imhof |location= Petersberg |page= 102 |doi= 10.5165/hawk-hhg/233 |via= elearn.hawk-hhg.de |access-date= |archive-date= November 25, 2020 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20201125155445/http://elearn.hawk-hhg.de/projekte/ewaglos/pages/download.php |url-status= dead }}</ref> The Italian past participle {{lang|it|sgraffiato}} is also used for this technique, especially in reference to pottery.
==Etymology== [[File:Krakow Florianska 47 sgraffito.jpg|thumb|right|Facade of the Jagiellonian University guesthouse in Kraków]] thumb|right|''Sgraffito'' decoration of ceramics, in the brown slip on the rim The term {{lang|it|sgraffito}} is based on the verb {{lang|it|graffiare}} 'to scratch', which probably entered Italian through Lombardic and ultimately traces back to the Greek word {{lang|grc-Latn|gráphein}} 'to write'. The Italian prefix 's-' originates in the Latin prefix 'ex-', and is used in this case to intensify the basic meaning, so that 'to scratch' becomes 'to scratch off'.
==History== Sgraffito on walls has been used in Europe since classical times. It was popularized in Italy in the 15th and 16th centuries<ref>{{cite book |date=2011 |editor1-last= Henry |editor1-first=Alison |editor2-last=Stewart |editor2-first=John |title=Practical building conservation. Mortars, plasters, and renders. |location=Farnham/Burlington |publisher=Ashgate Publishing |page=99}}</ref> and can be found in African art. In combination with ornamental decoration, these techniques formed an alternative to the prevailing painting of walls. The technical procedure for sgraffito is relatively simple, resembling the process of painting frescoes.
''Sgraffito'' played a significant role during the Italian Renaissance, with two of Raphael's workshops, Polidoro da Caravaggio and his partner Maturino da Firenze, among the leading specialists. They painted palace facades in Rome and other cities; however, most of their work has since weathered. During the 16th century, the technique was brought to Germany by the master builders of the Renaissance and taken up with enthusiasm. As a simple native art, old examples of ''sgraffito'' can be found in the wide surroundings of Wetterau and Marburg. In Germany, the technique is most predominant in Bavaria. The use of ''sgraffito'' was common in the creation of housing façades for the purposes of advertising. The technique was also used in Thuringia, the Engadin, Austria, and Transylvania.
In Catalonia, ''sgraffito'' was implemented in the early 20th century by the Noucentista neo-classical architects and became a recurrent technique in façade decoration.
Another use of ''sgraffito'' is seen in its simplified painting technique. One coat of paint is left to dry on a canvas or sheet of paper. Another coat of a different color is painted on top of the first layer. The artist then uses a palette knife or oil stick to scratch out a design, leaving behind an image in the color of the first coat of paint. This can also be achieved by using oil pastels for the first layer and black ink for the top layer. Sometimes a first coat of paint is not needed, and the wet coat scraped back reveals the canvas. This cannot be achieved by using the oil pastel method. This technique is often used in art classes to teach the ''sgraffito'' technique to novice art students.
==Art Nouveau== {{Further|Art Nouveau in Brussels}} Examples of graphic work on facades saw a resurgence {{Circa|1890}} through 1915, in the context of the rise of the Arts and Crafts Movement, the Vienna Secession, and particularly the Art Nouveau movement in Belgium and France.
The English artist Heywood Sumner has been identified<ref>{{cite book |title= Modern mural decoration |last= Baldry |first= Alfred Lys |author-link= Alfred Lys Baldry |year= 1902}}</ref> as this era's pioneer of the technique, for example his work at the 1892 St Mary's Church, Sunbury, Surrey. Sumner's work is ''sgraffito per se'', scratched plaster, but the term has come to encompass a variety of techniques for producing exterior graphic decoration.
Other examples include: * Ceramic panels on the Grande Maison de Blanc, Brussels, architect Oscar François, artist Henri Privat-Livemont, 1896–1897 * The Hôtel Albert Ciamberlani, Brussels, architect Paul Hankar, ''sgraffito'' designs by Albert Ciamberlani and executed by {{ill|Adolphe Crespin|fr}}, 1897. * The Golden House, Charleroi (Belgium), ''sgraffito'' designs by Gabriel Van Dievoet 1899. * ''Princess of Dreams'' tile tympanum and other work, Hotel Metropol, Moscow, architect William Walcot, artist Mikhail Vrubel, 1899–1907 * Cauchie House, Brussels, architect Paul Cauchie, 1905 * Ceramic ''Homage to Prague'' tympanum of the Municipal House in Prague, architect Osvald Polívka, artist Karel Špillar, 1905–1912 == Modern usage== Sgraffito, locally known as {{translit|el|xysta}}, is still practised in the village of Pyrgi on the island of Chios, Greece. Here, most of the houses and public buildings are covered in rows of fine geometric patterns. Originally, it was designed by the local craftsmen to demonstrate their range of patterns and skills.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mier |first=Iliana |date=2024-01-10 |title=The Greek Island of geometrical wonders |url=https://www.bbc.com/reel/video/p0h2sy22/the-greek-island-of-geometrical-wonders |website=BBC Reel |language=en-GB |publisher=BBC |access-date=2025-11-13}}</ref>
==Gallery== <gallery class="center"> File:9736 - Firenze, Palazzo Nasi - Foto Giovanni Dall'Orto, 27-Oct-2007.jpg|Palazzo Nasi, Florence File:House in Olomouc.jpg|Building in Olomouc File:Mais.Cauchie sgraf. 2e ét.JPG|Cauchie House, Brussels File:Hotel Ciamberlani - sgraffite de l'étage, détail..JPG|Detail of Hôtel Albert Ciamberlani, Brussels File:Charleroi - Maison Dorée 1.JPG|Golden House, ''sgraffiti'' by Gabriel van Dievoet, Charleroi, 1899 File:Mödling - Bürgerhaus Rathausgasse 6.JPG|Renaissance façade with ''sgraffito'' in Mödling File:Althofen Salzburger Platz 6 Riederhaus West-Ansicht 20082018 4275.jpg|Renaissance façade with ''sgraffito'' in Althofen File:Pyrgi house1.JPG|House covered with ''sgraffito'' in the village of Pyrgi, Mastichochoria of Chios File:Casa del Gremi de Revenedors . façana esgrafiada 03.JPG|Building in Barcelona File:GuentherZ 2007-04-28 2811 Drosendorf Rathaus.jpg|Town hall of Drosendorf-Zissersdorf File:Jindruchev Hradec - Haus am Markt - Sgraffito - Panorama.jpg|Building in Jindřichův Hradec File:1360 Montgomery Street, exterior, San Francisco (June 2020).jpg|''Sgraffito'' mural on the Malloch Building in San Francisco </gallery>
==See also== * List of art techniques * Scagliola * Stucco * Terrazzo * Venetian plaster * Scratchboard
== References == {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category|Sgraffito}} * [http://www.sgraffito-in-3d.com/en/collection/ Sgraffito Collection] of Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam *[https://web.archive.org/web/20120316140002/http://www.faith.qmul.ac.uk/about/murals/index.html St. Benet's Chaplaincy at Queen Mary, University of London] via Internet Archive
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Category:Murals Category:Plastering Category:Types of pottery decoration Category:Italian words and phrases Category:Painting techniques