THE FRESCOES

Fascinated by the Pompeian frescoes and by those inside the Etruscan tombs of Tarquinia, in central Italy, between 1986 and 1987 Fiume was able to paint his own frescoes thanks to the help of Perla Totti, an expert in the strappo (tear off) technique. First, Fiume had a number of plastered portions of brick walls prepared for him. These were then placed on movable structures on wheels contained by vertical wooden cases whose sizes were the same as those of his paintings. The walls on wheels frescoed by Fiume could then be easily moved to where they could be left to dry for about two months until the paintings could be transferred on canvas through the strappo technique.