"We quickly arrived to those white walls: their name is that of the sister who shines with the sunlight. With the indigenous stones it overcomes the smiling lilies, and the stone shines with a light light. Land rich in marble, which with its light of colors sumptuous challenge the immaculate snow." - His return - Rutilio NamazianoThese romantic words of the poet Claudio Rutilio Namaziano, active in the 5th century B.C., were among the first to be used in literature to describe Carrara marble. In these famous verses we find a lively feeling in the modern history of Apuan marble, from the Renaissance onwards, when Carrara became particularly beloved for its intrinsic characteristics, such as its brightness, whiteness, brilliance, which represent the key elements of modern monumentality. Carrara marble has a long history, particularly interesting to understand why it is considered the most used and sought after marble in the world.
155 B.C.
One of the oldest Roman marble works is located at the National Archaeological Museum of Luni and is the base of the statue dedicated to Marco Claudio Marcello, the general who in 155 B.C. managed to defeat the Ligurian Apuans: It was precisely from that year that the Romans began to intensely exploit the marble of the Carrara quarries, which was mainly used as a building material.
27 B.C.
In the Imperial age, with the accession of the Emperor Augustus to the throne, the situation changed: with the new order of the state the cultural policy of Rome underwent a transformation. Through the implementation of a cultural project, now art and empire proceeded jointly.
One of the first Emperor’s requirements was to provide the Roman Empire with a precise cultural identity, with the aim of consolidating the Empire Authority and its prestige.
During the Augustinian Empire, there emerged a flourishing of art that esteemed marble as one of its favored materials. Marble therefore began to be used not only for public construction, but also for private construction.
476 A.D.
The fall of the Roman Empire coincided with a rather unfortunate period for the marble quarries, because for centuries the excavation of blocks was almost zeroed, and in the few cases where natural stone was used for the new constructions, it was done through the reuse of material, through the despoliation of ancient buildings. To witness a new flowering of marble, it will be necessary to wait until the year 1000 when the excavation will resume at a sustained pace.
1400 A.D.
To arrive at the rebirth of the monument as a structure or as a celebratory work detached from an architectural context, we will have to wait for Donatello, the first modern artist to create a monument in this sense. We are talking about the monument to Gattamelata, built between the 40s and 50s of the 15th century, which can still be admired in Padua in front of the basilica of Sant'Antonio.
In the Middle Ages also began the myth of the great artists who went personally to the city to select the marbles from which create their masterpieces. One of these was Michelangelo Buonarroti who stayed several times in Carrara to choose the marbles to sculpt his masterpieces: the first time was in 1497, when he was commissioned to sculpt the Vatican Pietà for the French cardinal Jean Bilhères de Lagraulas.
The first important case of marble monumentality in a public square was Michelangelo’s David, sculpted from a single block of Carrara marble. It is interesting to note that David was not originally born as a monument, because it was designed to decorate one of the buttresses of the Duomo of Florence.
In 1504, when Michelangelo had almost finished sculpting the work, Florence faced the problem of where to place it since several issues had arisen at the planned location. (the initial plan in fact foresaw the realization of ten other works of the same proportions, and had become unthinkable mainly for reasons of timing and cost).
The David was a work so out of the ordinary to be considered "wasted", for a location at eighty meters high. The Republic of Florence gathered a commission, formed by the greatest artists of the time (among others: Leonardo da Vinci, Sandro Botticelli, Filippino Lippi, Piero di Cosimo, Perugino, Lorenzo di Credi), and decided on the idea of Filippino Lippi: locate the work near the entrance of Palazzo Vecchio (where today is the nineteenth-century copy).
The David placed on the public square no longer represented a work of religious character but became a “secular” monument, a symbol of the civil virtues of the Florentine Republic: the strength and intelligence of the city, the victory of the Republic over tyranny, the courage to face enemies.
1700 A.D.
In the 18th century, the city of Carrara became an important center because the monumental marble spread throughout the world. The quarries worked like never before, and artists began to frequent them with a certain intensity. In the Neoclassical period, the Carrara Marble School also flourished, which until then had not received much attention.
1900 A.D.
Even during the Fascist Twenties Carrara marble was used to produce many works.
The Obelisk of the Foro Italico is perhaps one of the most famous monuments. Designed by the architect Enrico del Debbio, it represents the strength and physical prowess, and is inspired by the architecture of Imperial Rome.
The block from which the obelisk of the Foro Italico was sculpted went down in history as the "Monolith", the largest block that has ever been quarried in Carrara in all its centuries of history (it was a 300-ton block).
Today’s society has found many other ways to remember important historical figures and moments, so celebratory monuments are no longer commissioned.
If once sculpture embodied all the desires for continuity and the ambitions for eternity cultivated by humans, in the contemporary world, it is architecture that takes on these aspirations, and it is the large buildings and architectural complexes that have probably become the most evident symbols of modernity.
The use of marble, however, continues today, as it has become one of the materials used in the decorations of the rooms of contemporary buildings, and is still highly sought after even for the most important buildings, made by the great architects who very often use marble for the decorative elements of their buildings.
