Carrara Marble Province

Italy

Detail of a modern sculture, Italy

Local native name

Marmo di Carrara

Year designation

2017

Lithology

Calcitic marble; Marmo Arabescato: metamorphic breccia

Aesthetics

From pure white to grey, frequent veins of darker composition with 7 main varieties: 1. Marmo Bianco Carrara; 2. Marmo venato; 3. Marmo Bardiglio; Marmo Nuvolato; Marmo Arabescato; 6. Marmo Statuario; 7. Marmo Calacata

Geological settings

Mesozoic – Middle-Late Triassic to Early Jurassic (Lower Liassic)- Apuan Metamorphic Complex – Apuan Unit; metamorphism during alpine orogenesis in Tertiary

Location

Tuscany, Apuan Alps with more than 100 commercial varieties; around the town Carrara as Carrara Marble sensu stricto

Detail of a modern sculture, Italy

The essence of classic sculpture

Quarried since pre-Roman times, the Carrara marble is the testimonial of an area/industry that was able – for a variety of reasons not easily repeatable in future stone history – from the dawn of the stone sector, to trigger a flywheel effect on a global scale. Suitable for any environment and cultural context, this versatile marble has been appreciated in almost any field of application – from building to architecture, from fine arts to urban landscape, from funerary art to modern 3D design – probably reaching its highest point in the eternal works of famous sculpturers, artists and architects such as Michelangelo, Donatello, Jacopo Della Quercia, Canova, Bernini, and many others. It is currently excavated in more than 100 quarries, processed almost everywhere and sold all over the world.