Home›Open Questions›Did true fresco painting originate independently in Minoan Crete and in ancient Rome, or was the wet-plaster technique transmitted between them?Open QuestionsDid true fresco painting originate independently in Minoan Crete and in ancient Rome, or was the wet-plaster technique transmitted between them?Citation FormatsGeneral ReferenceGeneral Reference Citation TextArts and Music Atlas. "Did true fresco painting originate independently in Minoan Crete and in ancient Rome, or was the wet-plaster technique transmitted between them?." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://arts.interactiveatlas.org/open-questions-index/fresco-origin-transmission-or-independent.Copy General ReferenceAPA StyleAPA Style Citation TextArts and Music Atlas. (n.d.). Did true fresco painting originate independently in Minoan Crete and in ancient Rome, or was the wet-plaster technique transmitted between them?. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://arts.interactiveatlas.org/open-questions-index/fresco-origin-transmission-or-independentCopy APA StyleBibTeXBibTeX Citation Text@misc{artsandmusicatlas-did-true-fresco-painting-originate-indep, author = {Arts and Music Atlas}, title = {Did true fresco painting originate independently in Minoan Crete and in ancient Rome, or was the wet-plaster technique transmitted between them?}, year = {2026}, url = {https://arts.interactiveatlas.org/open-questions-index/fresco-origin-transmission-or-independent}, note = {Accessed August 30, 2026} }Copy BibTeXOpen QuestionCross-Tradition ConnectionsSourcesComments (0)Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)Open QuestionEncyclopaedia Britannica states plainly that the origins of fresco painting are unknown, even while naming Minoan Crete (Knossos) and ancient Rome (Pompeii) as its earliest well-documented sites of use. No continuous, traceable lineage connects Bronze Age Aegean fresco practice to the Roman and later Italian tradition.What would resolve this Comparative technical analysis of surviving Minoan and early Roman fresco samples, or archaeological evidence of an intermediate transmission chain across the eastern Mediterranean, could settle whether the technique was inherited or independently developed.OpenArchaeology and art historyEncyclopaedia Britannica editors, Encyclopaedia BritannicaCross-Tradition ConnectionsQuestion OnFresco, Art Forms Well-attested Source Encyclopaedia BritannicaEncyclopaedia Britannica editorsSourcesEncyclopaedia BritannicaEncyclopaedia Britannica editors, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.Fresco Painting, britannica.com/art/fresco-paintingComments (0)No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.Sign in to join the discussion.Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.View At A Past YearThe atlas records no dated fact of its own for this entry, so there is no other year to choose.Show This Year