Materials > Marble

Marble

A metamorphic, hard, dense, crystalline stone primarily composed of calcium carbonate; it is limestone or dolomite that has been metamorphosed with heat and pressure. Pure calcite marble is white, but impurities produce a wide variety of coloring and patterns. It is finely grained and polishes to a smooth, high gloss.

Basics Works of Art Curated Guides

Basics to get you started

Carving marble with traditional tools

Ancient and Byzantine mosaic materials

Quarrying and carving marble

Replicating Michelangelo

Donatello’s marble carving technique

Works of Art

House of Neptune and Amphitrite at Herculaneum

before 79 C.E.

Teaching guide: The City Beautiful Movement

1922

1890–2021

Robert Mills and Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Lincoln Casey, Washington Monument

completed 1884

Colossus of Constantine

c. 312–315

Portraits of Alexander the Great

Roman copy c. 1–50 C.E.

Roman copy c. 20 B.C.E.–20 C.E.

Roman copy c. 2nd century C.E.

305–281 B.C.E.

The Tomb of Eurysaces / The Tomb of the Baker

c. 30–20 B.C.E.

Michelangelo, Bruges Madonna

c. 1303–05

Praxiteles, Apollo Sauroktonos

c. 350–200 B.C.E.

c. 350 B.C.E.

Roman copy: c. 325–350 C.E., Greek original: c. 350 B.C.E.

Roman copy: c. 1st–2nd century C.E., Greek original: c. 350 B.C.E.

1 2 3 … 21 Next