A Study Of Various Kinds Of Antique Marbles

One of the most aesthetic uses of the marble has been the statues. There are different types of marbles that have been used to curve amazing shapes out of them. However, some of them have been preferred by the artists, while some others are not.

Among these different types of marbles, the Pentelic stones would certainly top the list. This is the type that had been used by sculptors like Praxiteles, Pheidias and other masters of the ancient Greek civilization. The features of this type of marble can be easily discernable from the Elgin marbles that can be found in the British Museum. The marbles were taken from Parthenon in Athens. The marble is found from quarries in Mount Pentelicus of Attica. In recent times, this marble has been used to construct few large buildings in London.

Another marble that the Greeks used frequently for sculpture is Hymettian marble. This was derived from the quarries at the Hymettus Mountain and can be yielded properly. However, they do not have the richness of color and texture like that of the previous one.

The Parian marble is also very famous among the architects and sculptors of the Greek civilization. It could be found in the Mount Marpessa and other places in the isle of Paros. The ancient writers called it lychnites that refers to a lamp. This is because the quarries were worked by the lamps. Among the various noticeable work on it, the Venus de’ Medici is certainly the most well known.

However, if one considers the popularity of the Greek marbles, the Carrara marble will be right there on the top of the list. In fact, this is the stone that is used by the best sculptors of this present time. The stone can be found in huge amount in the region of the Apuan Alps as well as in Massa, Carrara and Serravezza. During the regime of the Augustus, the Romans used to take marble from this area and used them in architecture. However, the finer varieties, that became so popular among the artists, were discovered later.

Legendary artists like Canova or Michelangelo used this stone to execute some of their masterpieces. The snow-white color of the purest version of this stone has also been used to create other beautiful sculptures as well. The common variety of this marble has a blue shade and is not suitable for statues. However, the geologists are not quite sure about the age of the stone.

Giallo antico, also known as numidic yellow is a unique marble that was derived from North Africa. It seemed that the Romans imported the stones through ships. In fact, the trend of shipping in marble from different corners of the world was quite a popular one in the Roman Empire.

The Lumachella marble was derived from Carinthia and it has a mixture of black, grey and white spots. This is a very rare type of fossil marble that contains the small snails. The Cipollino has a unique texture of white and pale green. It is assumed that this Greek marble was the first colored marble that was taken to the Rome.