A style of painting that involves applying paint onto wet plaster is known as what style?

Painting which is done rapidly in watercolor on wet plaster on a wall or ceiling, so that the colors penetrate the plaster and become fixed as it dries is the style known as fresco. This is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly-laid, or wet lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the pigment to merge with the plaster. With the setting of the plaster, the painting becomes an integral part of the wall or ceiling.

The fresco technique has been employed since antiquity and is closely associated with Italian Renaissance painting. Today, it is known that a technique used in the popular frescoes of Michelangelo and Raphael was to scrape indentations into certain areas of the plaster while still wet to increase the illusion of depth and to accent certain areas over others.

The most prominent use of frescoes, particularly in Italy, has been in churches and many government buildings. Many fresco decorations that now exist are on great display throughout all of Europe.