Alfrei painting is a type of interior painting that imitates various types and types of interior decoration (for example, valuable wood species, gypsum stucco molding , silk drapery , gold or silver surfaces, floral patterns, etc.).
Alfrei painting differs from the fresco way of drawing a picture on the wall: fresco painting involves applying the image to the wall with raw stucco , and alfrei painting, on the contrary, on the dried plastered surface. Currently, the term "alfrei painting" means the following types of ornamental - decorative painting :
- monochrome (performed in one color and tone gradations of this color);
- polychrome (multicolor ornaments, stylized floral arrangements, fantastic figures, heraldic elements, etc.);
- grisaille (space-spreading paintings-tricks, imitation of architectural elements, stucco molding, etc.)
Alfrei painting was born in the III millennium BC. the ancient Egyptians when painting the walls of the pyramids . Alfrei painting on dry stucco began to supplant the classic fresco on raw stucco in the Renaissance , when art gradually returned to the ideals of antiquity and became increasingly secular. Alfrey painting reached its peak in the end of the 18th century in Venice . In Russia, samples of alfrei painting can be seen in the palaces of St. Petersburg : Zimny , Aleksandrovsky , Marble , Yusupovsky , etc.