| P number: | P576107 |
|---|---|
| Caption: | Marble specimen. Poracci. Monte Altissimo, Seravezza, Tuscany. |
| Description: |
Label name: Poracci. Alternative name: Porracci (white statuary). Specimen description: Uniform White. Text from: Watson, J. British and foreign marbles and other ornamental stones. Cambridge : University Press, 1916. 332 PORRACCI (White Statuary). Monte Altissimo, Seravezza, Tuscany. This is yet another example of the White Statuary Marble from the group of quarries near Seravezza. It is a pure white marble, but has not quite the beautiful colour of the best Statuary, moreover, the bed is said occasionally to contain sand-holes. The quarries are on Monte Altissimo, but further away from Seravezza than those which furnished the foregoing specimens of White Statuary, being on the other side of the mountain. This marble has been used lately for ecclesiastical and other decorative work in the British Isles. An example may be seen in London. Two of the groups of statuary, that of Motherhood and justice, on the Queen Victoria Memorial erected in front of Buckingham Palace in 1912, are composed of it. The superiority of Seravezza White Statuary Marble is not universally acknowledged, neither was it in former times. It is recorded that Michelangelo, whilst superintending the excavation of the marble at the Carrara Quarries which had been ordered by Pope Leo X for the adornment of the Church of St Lorenzo at Florence was commanded by his holiness to proceed to Seravezza, and substitute the, marble from the quarries on Monte Altissimo for the Carrara Marble. Michaelangelo refused to comply with this request, preferring the Marble of Carrara to that of Seravezza. Pressure, however, was brought to bear upon him, and he was compelled to transfer the scene of his labours to Monte Altissimo. Five columns were completed, one of which was taken to the Church of St Lorenzo in the year 1521, but the remainder did not get further than Pietrasanta, and were still there, thirty years later, when Vasari, wrote the life of Michelangelo. The forced abandonment of the Carrara Quarries in favour of the Seravezza Quarries, for the supply of marble to erect the facade of St Lorenzo, was the means of Michelangelo losing the contract. When it became known to the Carrarians that Seravezza Marble was to be substituted for Carrara, they came to an arrangement with the Ligurian mariners to prevent Michelangelo from finding a single ship to carry his marble from Genoa to Pisa. He had, therefore, at his own expense, to conrstruct a road over the mountains and through the marshy plains, which caused great delay. In the end the Pope and Cardinal de' Medici lost patience, and a papal brief was issued relieving Michelangelo from the contract of 1518 for the facade of St Lorenzo at Florence. |
| 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: | 167.75 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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