LABORATORY

The word marble, derives from the Greek marmairon that means “to shine”, and it recalls some of the main features of that material: brightness, elegance, refinement. In the Neolithic age, men started taking an interest in this shining material.
Artists living in the Cyclades between the IV and the III millennium B.C. were specialized in sculpting marble.
Greeks made extensive use of marble, both in sculpture and architecture. In the IV century B.C. the use of marble slabs began, starting from East, where marble slabs were used to cover the walls of royal palaces.

In the Roman culture marble was employed in different ways, depending on the period. At the beginning it was only used as structural element, but afterwards it began to be considered as a cladding material. Romanesque art reawakened the passion for classic antiquity, thus renewing the ancient passion for marble, whose greatest spread and success took place in Italy during the XV century when it was employed in the construction of facades and inlay works.

At the end of the XVI century and even more between the XVII and the XVIII century, marble was principally placed in the interior.
In the XIX and XX century marble has gained center-stage in the house furnishing; nowadays architects and designers make extensive use of it because of its qualities: weight, toughness, resistance to fire and atmospheric agents.