[jes-oh] 
| 1. | gypsum or plaster of Paris prepared with glue for use as a surface for painting. |
| 2. | any plasterlike preparation to prepare a surface for painting, gilding, etc. |
| 3. | a prepared surface of plaster or plasterlike material for painting, gilding, etc. |
| ges·so (jěs'ō) n. pl. ges·soes
[Italian, from Latin gypsum, gypsum; see gypsum.] ges'soed adj. |
gesso
(Italian: "gypsum," or "chalk"), fluid, white coating composed of plaster of paris, chalk, gypsum, or other whiting mixed with glue, applied to smooth surfaces such as wood panels, plaster, stone, or canvas to provide the ground for tempera and oil painting or for gilding and painting carved furniture and picture frames. In Medieval and Renaissance tempera painting, the surface was covered first with a layer of gesso grosso (rough gesso) made with coarse, unslaked plaster, then with a series of layers of gesso sottile (finishing gesso) made with fine plaster slaked in water, which produced an opaque, white, reflective surface
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