Polished plastering

Venetian plaster is a wall and ceiling finish consisting of plaster mixed with marble dust, applied with a spatula or trowel in thin, multiple layers, which are then burnished to create a smooth surface with the illusion of depth and texture. Venetian plaster techniques include marmorino, scagliola, and sgraffito. When left un-burnished, Venetian plaster has a matte finish that is rough and stone-like to the touch. Un-burnished Venetian plaster is also very brittle and damages rather easily. When applied correctly, Venetian plaster can be used to create a highly polished, rock-hard, marble-like finish. Venetian plaster is especially useful on surfaces where marble panels could not be installed easily, and on surfaces that would be too expensive to have carved from real marble such as columns, corbels and curved walls.Venetian plaster can be tinted, or colored using natural or synthetic colorants. The ability to tint Venetian plaster is especially helpful when a specific color of "marble" is desired, or when a color that does not exist naturally is wanted.

Stucco or render is a material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as decorative coating for walls and ceilings and as a sculptural and artistic material in architecture. Stucco may be used to cover less visually appealing construction materials such as metal, concrete, cinder block, or clay brick and adobe.

In English, stucco usually means a coating for the outside of a building, and plaster one for interiors; as described below, the material itself is often little different. But other European languages, importantly including Italian, do not have the same distinction; stucco means plaster in Italian and serves for both. This has led to English often using "stucco" for interior decorative plasterwork in relief, especially in art history and older sources.