From the first century AD, techniques and processes remained much the same. While always in use, it was rediscovered and made popular again in the Italian Renaissance. Artists and architects embraced it as both an old and new technique, and Venetian plaster became a highly desired finish for walls both interior and exterior.
Significant changes in the processes and materials didn't occur until the mid 1900s when Carlo Scarpa, an Italian architect, began using glues and acrylic resins, and others changed the process in other ways, taking it from seven layers to three... but to understand the changes one must first know how Venetian plaster has been made through time.
The Materials
Creating a finish of Venetian plaster is quite an involved process. It takes time,
patience, an eye for detail, and relatively precise ratios of materials. These have included limestone, gypsum, malt, beer, eggs, animal hair, blood, other pigments, sand, marble dust, lime, and more recently acrylics and fiberglass.
We don't know the exact moment what we would call Venetian plaster by today's
definition was first used, but we can certainly discuss how it has varied and changed since that unknown moment. Essentially the base has stayed the same - limestone, with a stone or marble powder for later layers - but the specifics have varied depending on geography, culture, technological development, and basic human innovation.
