Authentic Venetian Plaster or Faux Painting?  Feel the Difference!

Authentic Venetian Plaster should not be confused with "faux painting."

If you search popular DIY websites for Venetian Plaster, you're likely to find statements like this, from the website ehow.com: "Venetian plaster is a faux finish technique for house painting, where the wall surface is painted using a trowel and a thick paint material called venetian plaster."

Don't be mislead. In the same way the term "Burgundy," a term once reserved for the finest red wine from Bourgogne, France, became bastardized in order to market lesser quality wines on the basis of their deep red color, the term "Venetian Plaster" became marketed over the past 20 years in America, to  generically refer to virtually any troweled-on, shiny, decorative finish.

These paint-based products labeled "Venetian Plaster" found at large building supply chain stores or paint stores, are synthetics.  Many contain dangerous chemicals (read the warning labels) and their application/finishing process can create a toxic interior environment.  While these formulations may contain some of the same materials you'll find in true Venetian plaster, they also include vinyl polymers, acrylics, cement, and other chemicals or fillers.  Their finished effect  feels like plastic or vinyl, NOT the cool, exquisitely polished marble sensation achieved only through real Venetian plaster.

About Venetian and Italian Plasters

Venetian Plaster, also known as Italian Plaster, is an ancient building material comprised of lime and/or marble, which is applied by hand in translucent layers which harden over time to stone. Perfect for walls and ceilings, Venetian Plaster can be applied to any room in your home or business to stunning effect. When sealed, it is durable enough for kitchens, bathrooms and high traffic areas.

The term Venetian Plaster is commonly used in the United States, for what the Italians call Decorative Stucco or Stucco Veneziano. Not to be confused with faux finishes, authentic Italian lime plasters are derived from a hydrated lime powder. Natural lime plasters have been around since ancient times, but reached a new level of art form during the Renaissance in Venice, where building structures could not support the weight of marble and stone. Plastered walls created the look of polished stone without the weight, and could withstand the dampness and protect both interior and exterior walls from the elements. These lime plasters give more breathability and permeability to the substrate beneath the finish, and are resistant to the moisture and the saltiness that is typical of Venice.

Venetian Plaster is first custom tinted and then hand applied by trowel. The first layer is applied as a thin skim coat and subsequent layers are troweled with translucent layers of plaster until the desired texture and dimension is achieved. The plaster can be brought up to a high polish -  as in a Grassello or Veneziano finish, a low polish - as with a Stucco Milano, or matte finish - as with a Marmorino, and ranges in texture from cool, glassy smoothness to a rough, granular finish.