User:Kokorodadane/Plasterwork

A plasterwork is an interior decoration molded and sculpted in gypsum which, cooked and ground, becomes plaster powder which is mixed with water (“mixing”) and which hardens in the air (“setting”). , or a staff. The term and technique are used almost only in Provence (the only French dictionary that mentions it is Quillet).

Gypsum plasterwork was common in the Middle Ages and until the Revolution, particularly for fireplace mantels, in houses, castles, mansions or for openwork fences or ceiling troughs.

The artist who makes the plasterwork is the plasterer, or the stucco worker.

Presentation
Since Antiquity, the uses of plaster and lime have made it possible, thanks to the plastic properties of these materials, to create moldings and relief decorations: stucco (or gypsum in Provence or chiseled plaster in Morocco), based on lime or plaster, glue and stone powder, veined with pigments was widely used to imitate marble throughout Western decoration.

In Antiquity, the Rome of Augustus, the Domus Aurea of ​​Nero, but also the tombs and the baths, are initial examples of a decorative development of the entire Roman Empire which culminated in the 2nd century AD.

Rediscovered during the Renaissance
This use was rediscovered during the Renaissance, popularized in France by François I and gave rise to a real craze for these cave decorations, hence the name grotesque given to a whole part of this decorative register.

Production technique
The technique of creating a plasterwork requires method and skill. It consists of preparing large volumes with a plaster mortar, sometimes very coarse, if necessary by leaning on a structure of wooden slats (for fireplaces) or barely roughed branches for a window casement, then drawing the form to create a molding or cornice. The “masseur” places the plaster and the “pusher” quickly executes the linear pattern cut into the sheet metal of his mobile template. On this prepared surface, all decoration techniques can be used:


 * carving on a flat surface (Provençal specialty) after using the “guillaume” (facial plane).
 * live pattern modeling, installation of elements molded in advance and assembled at cost.
 * the insertion of previously molded or stamped pattern blocks.

The builder can also pour a plaster screed onto an engraved formwork and thus create interjoists with alternating patterns. Le raffinement et la virtuosité consistent à utiliser tout l'éventail technique puis à finir par une ciselure qui avive les angles et les jeux d'ombres, accentue l'effet de perspective.

However, in Provence, there does not seem to have been any connection with the Italian stucco decorations of the 16th century. The mannerist style which appears in many fireplace decorations, draws on a common European decorative background brought up to date and is as close to Burgundy and the masks of Flanders as it is to Italy.

In the islamic world
The Arabs also underwent, although already civilized, the artistic influence of the peoples they dominated in the East and West and it was Byzantine artists who applied themselves to the decoration of the buildings erected by the new masters; the mosque of Ecbatane rebuilt from 661 to 680 is a type. In Spain, in the 10th century, Abd-er-Kahman followed the same example and Byzantine artists worked on the construction of the Palace of Zahra (Madinat al-Zahra).

No people have multiplied with so much perfection the capricious ornamentations of leaves and flowers in a geometric design. It is a crisscrossing of lines, a fantasy rich in details on all parts of the building, these decorations owe their origin to their arabesque style. The Mohammedans not admitting any kind of figures of men or animals into their mosques, their artists have perfected themselves to the highest degree in the ornamentation of geometric flora. The pendants cut from the ceilings resemble stalactites in mosques. These constructions constitute the most beautiful Arab monuments, with their elegant minarets. The Moorish, Lombard, Saxon and Carolingian styles are of the same type; their main character is the semicircular arch and the horseshoe arch. It was in the 11th and 12th centuries that this type of ornamentation came into favor in the West, on the banks of the Loire and the Rhine.

Provençal plasterwork
Provençal plasterwork is a little different from stucco ,there is no addition of marble powder. They are more fragile, but more charming. What we make now is called staff. The plaster is mixed with tow, it cannot be sculpted.

This is the evolution of the staircases at the beginning of the 16th century which were screwed taking up little space, sometimes outside the building (in a tower), they were made of stone and had little or no decoration. Then a transformation took place, there was no longer just one central screw but several “cores”, two, three or four. They are made of blocking or wood and covered with gypsum, the steps are with rotating or straight flights and with landings. The gipiers have a great time decorating the vaults or the ramps, finally we invent the staircase with ramp on ramp and landings. The balusters are made of stuccoed wood (you would hardly suspect this). It takes up more and more space and is located in the middle of the house. Gypsum is very close to stucco in material and technique, with one difference: stucco consists of a mixture of plaster, lime and marble powder, while gypsum only contains plaster and a little lime.

Considered a “minor art” by many art historians, it was an essential element of architectural decor in Provence from the late Middle Ages to the 19th century, with a true golden age from the 16th to the 18th century. On the other hand, southern originality is often denied by claiming, in an erroneous shorthand, that this technique came from Italy and was practiced by artists from this country: however, the texts show us that the artists who implement the plasterwork are the overwhelming majority of Provençals; the mention of Italian artists often comes from confusion with stucco. In the wake of the supposed Italian origin, plasterwork was long thought to have appeared with the Renaissance; However, recent research has revealed that plasterwork already existed in the Middle Ages. Its origins remain obscure. The Romans had introduced the stucco technique, which is found almost everywhere in the rich villae or the most beautiful urban residences. This technique is found in the Merovingian era, as shown by the example of the stuccoed arch of the crypt of Saint-Victor in Marseille. Then a big void until the 15th century. One likely avenue is Arab origin; Islamic architectural decor uses stucco, but also a technique very close to plasterwork still practiced today in countries like Yemen. The hypothesis is far from far-fetched; we know that the Arabs were present in the South of France during the early Middle Ages; on the other hand their cultural influence was through Spain (medieval Provence was for a time governed by the counts of Barcelona, ​​Christian princes in contact with the Iberian Muslim world) and Sicily (whose the counts of Provence will be sovereign), as well as during the Crusades (in which many Provençal lords participated). The term “gypserie” is a Frenchization of the Provençal term “gipparié”, which had no equivalent in French; in Provençal, plaster is called “gip”. The plaster used for plasterwork comes from the firing of a gypsum of good quality of which there are numerous deposits in Provence. Likewise, the artist who implements the plasterwork is described by the Provençal term "gippier", sometimes Frenchified as "gypier" or more rarely "gypsier". The stucco is called “estu” (“estuc” in old Provençal) and the stucator “estuaire”, which clearly shows that for the Provençals the two techniques are different. The French adoption of Provençal terms finally confirms the specificity of this art.