| P number: | P576016 |
|---|---|
| Caption: | Marble specimen. Yellow Brocatelle, Spain. Tortosa Quarries, Prov. Tarragona, Spain. |
| Description: |
Label name: Yellow Brocatelle, Spain. Alternative name: Tortosa Brocatello. Specimen description: Deep Red; containing yellow, white and transparent fossil fragments. Also known as / Brocatelle d'Espagne. Text from: Watson, J. British and foreign marbles and other ornamental stones. Cambridge : University Press, 1916. 421 TORTOSA BROCATELLO. Tortosa Quarries, Prov. Tarragona. This large slab is a typical example of a class of marbles known in Spain as Brocatello, a term applied with slightly different meanings in Spain, France, and Italy. Spanish Brocatello, known usually as Tortosa Brocatello, and sometimes distinguished as Brocatelle d'Espagne, resembles a mottled marble in general appearance, but on closer inspection, it is found to be made up of a red ground, in which there are a multitude of fossils. Many of the shells are crushed, and are so closely packed as to form the body of the marble, a characteristic which causes it to be included in the group of marbles known as Lumachella, a name given to an ancient marble sometimes found in excavations at Rome, chiefly made up of small shells. The groundmass is deep red, but as the numerous fossils vary in colour from yellow to snow white, and are sometimes replaced by colourless transparent calcite, the marble, generally, has a light appearance. The quarries are situated near Tortosa, a town in the Province of Tarragona. They were worked vigorously in ancient times, and the marble was then known as Marmor Schiston. During the Roman occupation large quantities were sent to Rome. It may be seen in the Church of St Maria Maggiore in that city, there being an example at the side entrance of the chapel. The high altar of St Cecilia is also partly composed of it. The altar of the Transept Chapel of the Church of St Paolo fuori le Mura has colonnettes of Tortosa Brocatello. There are numerous examples of its use in Naples, where columns of it may be seen in the Chapel of St Januarius. It is now chiefly used in Spain for small panels, mantelpieces, and clock cases, for which purposes it is also employed in England. It is, however, sometimes used in this country for ecclesiastical decorative work, together with other marbles. Instances of its use to form a mosaic pavement may be seen in the chancel of Bristol Cathedral (1895), and in those of Truro (1886) and Peterborough (1892). |
| Date taken: | Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 GMT 2004 |
| Photographer: | McIntyre, B.M. |
| Copyright statement: | NERC |
| Additional information: | The marble is from the Walter Brown Collection, Scottish Mineral and Lapidary Club. |
| Orientation: | Square |
| Size: | 244.21 KB; 1000 x 1000 pixels; 85 x 85 mm (print at 300 DPI); 265 x 265 mm (screen at 96 DPI); |
| Average Rating: | Not yet rated |
| Categories: | Unsorted Images |
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