Why Marble is widely used for making Statues?

Posted by Vinni S.
6
Dec 9, 2019
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Marble, probably the most popular material used for making sculptures. Basically, the durability and translucency of this material have made it the best choice for giving life to most of the greatest sculptors of the world including the Parthenon Reliefs, Venus de Milo, The Apollo Belvedere, David, Trajan’s Column reliefs, and many more. Various Greek artists including Rodin, Canova, Bernini, Michelangelo, and Donatello has always preferred marble over other sculpture materials.
Marble gets a huge vote while making friezes, free-standing statues and relief sculpture. Since the time metal tools got invented in the Bronze Age, marble has been highly appreciated by architects and sculptors.

Characteristics of Marble: why did it receive the appreciation of the famous architects?

Marble is a kind of metamorphic rock that is composed of calcium carbonate; actually, it is calcite which is formed as an after effect of the extreme heat or pressure on the structure of igneous or sedimentary rocks.

Sculptors prefer working with marble as it is easy to work with this rock due to its initial softness and it becomes superbly hard with age. Apart from that marbles are available in different patterns and shades.

Due to its relative homogeneity and isotropy, white marble has a huge demand in the sculpture of fine arts. This rock is also resistant to shattering. Added to that, it has a small refractory index of refraction and due to this quality, light is able to penetrate through it. As a result, it offers a ‘waxy’ look. This is why a marble decorative statue manufacturer of Jaipur is able to offer a human-like appearance to the stone. The decorative works need highly polishing which is possible with marbles.

Marble is weather-resistant too.
There is one type of marble called Carrara, which is almost translucent and thus it is able to diffuse light from its surface and light can also penetrate it. Thus sculptures made of it achieve a smooth and soft glow that offers almost an alive look to it. Due to these, Carrara marble is the top-most choice of the artists when they desire to produce some particular carving.

Types of Marble:
The most commonly used varieties of marble stones are – Carrara, Parian, and Pentelic. Pentelic is famous as an antique classic piece of marble that is golden-toned and close-grained. The popular historic Greek sculpture, Earl of Elgin, was made of Pentelic marbles.

Parian is another popular variety of marbles that is translucent but coarse-grained. This white marble has its origin at the Paros and Naxos islands.

Carrara is pure white and is originated from Tuscany. It is the favorite of Michelangelo. Sculptures made of this marble can be observed during the Italian Renaissance.

There are countless varieties of marbles in the market which are used by a marble decorative statue manufacturer Jaipur depending on the need for the sculpture. Marbles got varieties due to the variations in chemical composition, weathering, texture, and color. Though marble is famous for its white color, the Greek artists preferred off-white! They believed that this particular color can best bring out the best from a sculpture.
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