THE MAGIC OF MARBLE
Sculptors and architects have an abundance of natural stone materials to choose from—alabaster, travertine, granite, limestone and soapstone to name a few. But one medium has always stood out — marble. For the last 2,500 years, marble has been chosen for many of the greatest works of sculpture and architecture, from the Parthenon of Classical Greece to Michelangelo’s Pietà and Washington D.C.’s Lincoln Memorial. Durable yet so enough to be workable, marble occurs in both solid and patterned colors from snow-white to a rainbow of so pastels. With its ne grain, marble takes a gleaming polish and can be worked in great detail. Because marble occurs in massive formations, it can be quarried as blocks suitable for the largest sculptures and most ambitious architectural applications. To many sculptors, marble’s most appealing quality is its slight translucency which imparts a subtle glow to the polished stone.
Durable yet soft enough to be workable, marble occurs in both solid and patterned colors from snow-white to a rainbow of soft pastels. With its fine grain, marble takes a gleaming polish and can be worked in great detail.”
OUT OF LIMESTONE
For all its beauty, marble originates as drab limestone, a common sedimentary rock that forms through the accumulation of shells, coral and other organic materials. Limestone consists primarily of the calcareous carbonate minerals calcite (calcium carbonate) and/or dolomite (calcium magnesium carbonate). Most limestone is dark-gray in color; higher grades containing more than 70 percent carbonates have lighter-gray colors. With its dull luster and poor polishing qualities, limestone is not a particularly attractive rock. But because of its abundance and low cost, it is widely used for exterior building blocks. Its biggest use, however, is as the raw material for manufacturing portland cement. When subjected to metamorphic heat and pressure, high-grade limestone undergoes a dramatic change. It rst takes on a plastic consistency as its ne-grained, crystalline structure is destroyed and many of its impurities driven o. en, with reduced heat and pressure, this plastic mass recrystallizes as marble with a substantially higher carbonate content and a structure of interlocked grains of translucent calcite and/ or dolomite.
THE MAGIC OF MARBLE
Marble is soer, denser and more durable than limestone. e purest marble, which forms only from high-grade limestone, consists almost entirely of carbonates: snow-white in color, it has a glittery, crystalline texture. Most marble, however, contains varying amounts of accessory minerals that impart pale colors. Hematite (iron oxide) creates pale shades of red, pink, yellow, brown or green. Carbonaceous material produces gray or blackish colors. Uneven distribution of impurities before nal solidication creates attractive “marbled” patterns of swirls and veins. e slightly luminescent glow of ne marble is because of calcite’s low refractive index which enables light to penetrate the stone before scattering in all directions and reecting back to the surface. ese internal reections produce the characteristic “waxy” look of ne marble and impart a warm, almost lifelike appearance to sculptures.
THE MARBLE OF CLASSICAL ANTIQUITY
For all its beauty, marble originates as drab limestone, a common sedimentary rock that forms through the accumulation of shells, coral and other organic materials. Limestone consists primarily of the calcareous carbonate minerals calcite (calcium carbonate) and/or dolomite (calcium magnesium carbonate).”
Quarried from Mount Pentelicus near Attica and the island of Páros, marble was rst used extensively in art and architecture in Classical Greece about 500 B.C. e Parthenon, the crowning architectural achievement of ancient Greece, was built around 440 B.C. e extensive use of white marble in the huge temple symbolized the wealth and power of Athens, the Grecian capital. Perhaps the best-known Grecian marble sculpture, created during the later Hellenistic Period, is the Venus de Milo, which is thought to represent Aphrodite, the Grecian goddess of love and beauty. e Romans obtained marble from many sources, most notably the great quarries at Carrara in today’s northern Italy. Familiar examples of marble in Roman architecture are the 100-foot-high Trajan’s Column and the Column of Marcus Aurelius, both with highly detailed relief panels. Among the better-known Roman marble sculptures are a depiction of Mars, the Roman god of war, and the remarkably realistic busts of a succession of emperors. anks largely to the work of the great Italian sculptor and painter Michelangelo, marble sculptures regained popularity in Europe during the Renaissance. Of his many marble sculptures and relief panels, the Pietà and David are the most familiar. Michelangelo oen visited Carrara to personally select the “perfect” blocks of marble in the exact sizes, shapes and colors that he needed for his work.
Thanks largely to the work of the great Italian sculptor and painter Michelangelo, marble sculptures regained popularity in Europe during the Renaissance. Of his many marble sculptures and relief panels, the Pietà and David are the most familiar. Michelangelo often visited Carrara to personally select the ‘perfect’ blocks of marble in the exact sizes, shapes and colors that he needed for his work.”