Statuario

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One of the most famous marble statues, Michelangelo's David

The Statuario is one of the approx. 50 Carrara marble types from the quarries near Carrara in Italy . It is very fine-grained and shimmers white to slightly yellow. The statuario in the narrower sense comes from the quarries of the Altissimo mountain near Seravezza in the Apuan Alps , where the quarries of Michelangelo were also located.

The term is derived from its centuries-old use as a sculptural material for statues. For this purpose, the rock should be as pure white as possible and have a crystalline granularity suitable for processing. Statuario meets these requirements particularly well because of its particularly small calcite crystals and is also suitable for filigree artistic work. In addition to its fine grain, this marble can be recognized by its slightly yellowish color, while gray stripes are very rare. Veined varieties are traded as Statuario venato . The pure white base is the decisive criterion here, as the cheaper veined varieties under Carrara ordinario running and not wearing a pure white base tone.

Due to its properties, this marble is expensive and sought-after, and it is now also becoming scarce, as production on an industrial scale has been continuously expanded since the 1960s; Of the more than two million tons of marble mined in Italy each year, around two thirds come from the deposits around Carrara. Pure white varieties from Carrara quarries other than those at Seravezza are also referred to as Statuario. In the meantime, many artists are demanding that the actual statuary no longer be used in construction if possible.

literature

  • Frederick Bradley: Guida alle Cave di Marmo di Carrara . Lucca 1991
  • Christiane Klapisch-Zuber : Les maîtres du marbre, Carrare 1300-1600 . Paris 1969
  • Friedrich Müller : International natural stone index. 3rd edition 1993. Ebner Verlag. Ulm 1993

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Friedrich Müller: International natural stone index. Sheet 9.2.50 (see literature)