Emily Dickinson Lexicon

FRES'CO, n. [It. fresco, fresh.]

1. Coolness; shade; a cool refreshing state of the air; duskiness. Prior.
2. A picture not drawn in glaring light, but in dusk. Pope.
3. A method of painting in relief on walls, performed with water-colors on fresh plaster, or on a wall laid with mortar not yet dry. The colors, incorporating with the mortar, and drying with it, become very durable. It is called fresco, either because it is done on fresh plaster, or because it is used on walls and buildings in the open air. Encyc.