Apuan Alps
The Apuan Alps open up in blinding marble wounds, monumental stairways to the sky that seem sculpted by giants to house the gods.
White Carrara Statuario
Statuario marble is an extremely prized and sought-after stone variety, considered the most precious and luxurious.
Vyrgo extracts this marble directly from Cava Michelangelo, undoubtedly the most famous quarry in the world.
Like the much more famous Carrara marble, it is distinguished by its rarity. In fact, only 5% of the material quarried in that area can be classified as Statuario.
Statuario is, in effect, a variant of Carrara marble. It takes this name when its background is a particularly intense and brilliant white, often with almost no or medium-wide gray veining.
Its color is the result of the sedimentation and compression of minerals over millions of years. The predominant white is due to the significant presence of calcite, while the gray veining is generally caused by impurities such as mica. Although gray veins are rare, often resulting in purely white blocks, golden streaks are much rarer. These may be due to inclusions of pyrite or similar metal fragments. The distribution and intensity of the veins vary greatly between blocks, making each surface unique.
The name "Statuario" has a very specific origin: throughout history, it has been the material of choice for the most famous sculptors for the creation of majestic figures and monumental statues.
Its luster and compact structure make it perfect for chiselling.
Artists such as Michelangelo and Canova were well acquainted with and engaged with this prized variant.
Among the most famous works created in Statuario marble are Michelangelo Buonarroti's David, Antonio Canova's Three Graces, and the sculptural group of Laocoön and His Sons (a Roman copy). It has been used in sculpture since Roman times.
Today, white Statuario marble is the most sought-after material not only by sculptors around the world, but also by architects and designers for a wide variety of projects.
Calacatta Michelangelo
Calacatta marble is an Italian excellence, one of the most prestigious and sought-after types of marble in the world.
Its name has become a guarantee of quality.
Calacatta marble originates from the Apuan Alps; its availability in the Michelangelo Quarry is limited and inconsistent; therefore, it is not possible to guarantee its constant availability.
It is characterized by a bright white base, with accentuated veining that makes it a very vivid material.
The veining is its distinctive feature and defines its quality. It is a fine-grained marble. Despite its delicate appearance, it is a compact, durable, and highly resistant marble, ideal for any design project. It is distinguished by its remarkable resistance to wear.
Calacatta is often associated with white statuary marble, but it is distinguished by its dynamic background and more pronounced veining, while white statuary marble has a white-gray color with nuanced veining.
The distinction between one type and another is not always easy to define.
The variety of Calacatta veining gives rise to different types:
-
Calacatta Oro; the most sought-after marble features golden yellow veining on a luminous white background. The veining can also include gray undertones.
-
Calacatta Apuano: A prized white marble with delicate gray veining, prized for use in sculpture.
-
Calacatta Michelangelo: Historically favored for statues and sculptures due to the excellent technical characteristics of its grain, it features gray and gold veining on a white background.
-
Calacatta Viola: Characterized by purple or lavender/purple veining on a white background.
Along with the white statuary of Carrara, Calacatta was made famous by the artistic legacy of sculptors such as Michelangelo and Donatello.
Michelangelo Buonarroti is the artist most closely associated with the meticulous selection of high-quality marble from the Carrara quarries.
