L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, MAY 13, 2021 www.italoamericano.org 12 L'Italo-Americano I f you happen to find yourself lying on one o f t h e b e a u t i f u l b e a c h e s a l o n g t h e V e r s i l i a n c o a s t i n northern Tuscany, it would be impossible not to admire the majestic Apuan Alps. It would be easy to think that the stark white surfaces on the upper heights is snow and many have made this mistake, despite the scorch- ing summer temperatures on the beach. It is indeed remarkable to think that this is the origin of some of the most beautiful marble finishes that decorate churches, cathedrals, famous marble sculptures or, quite simply, the marble sitting in kitchens and bathrooms all around the world. The name "white Carrara marble" has become like a brand, syn- onymous with high end luxu- ry décor, buildings and fur- nishings. White Carrara marble has maintained its prestige for thousands of years; it was two thousand years ago that the ancient Romans first removed the layer of trees a n d g r a s s y c a r p e t t h a t dressed the mountains to reveal the precious white stone l aying under neath. The Romans took possession o f C a r r a r a a n d i t s s u r - r o u n d i n g s ( o n c e n a m e d Luni) and the Alps in 180 BC, after winning the territo- ry from a Celtic population that had settled in the area. Carrara marble supplied the Roman Empire for the con- struction of many famous m o n u m e n t s t h a t t o u r i s t s a d m i r e t o d a y . T h e Pantheon and the Trajan's Column in Rome are built of Carrara marble, as is the P o r t i c o d i O t t a v i a . Emperor Augustus is known to have said boastingly, "I found Rome a city of bricks and left it a city of marble." Many sculptures of the Renaissance (Michelan- gelo's David to name one) were also carved in marble from Carrara. Michelan- gelo is known to have visited many times during his life- time (he lived into his 90s) and each time he stayed in t h e a r e a f o r a t l e a s t 4 - 5 months to search for and find the perfect block of mar- ble to use for his sculptures. Michelangelo required the pure white Statuario di Carrara marble, which is characterized by its pure m i l k - w h i t e c o l o u r , t h a t makes it very valuable. The first time Michelangelo visit- ed the Apuan Alps was when he was looking for the perfect marble to use to sculpt the Vatican Pietà – the only p i e c e o f s c u l p t u r e Michelangelo ever signed, which is now housed inside St. Peter's Basilica, in Rome. It is a beautiful piece of art, depicting the Virgin Mary cradling the dead body of her son Jesus, something that really has to be seen when visiting Rome. After visiting the Apuan Alps repeatedly, M i c h e l a n g e l o f a n t a s i z e d about carving the whole peak of the mountain to create a sculpture so colossal that the passing ships would be able to see it from the sea. Statuario marble is very rare, and there is only one point today on the Apuan Alps where this prestigious type of marble is available, or w h e r e i t i s a l l o w e d t o b e e x c a v a t e d . T h i s l i m i t e d a m o u n t m u s t s a t i s f y t h e needs of the entire planet – and this is what pushes the price up and gives this type of marble the nickname oro bianco (white gold). Pure white statuario marble is soft in comparison to marble that has grey or black veins run- ning through it. The whiter the marble, the more calcium carbonate is present. The grey veins are caused by car- bon and some impurities and the more that is present, the harder the marble stone. O n c e u p o n a t i m e t h e extraction of the marble was e n t r u s t e d t o s l a v e r y , a n d their techniques remained unchanged for thousands of years. In the beginning, the miners exploited the natural f i s s u r e s o f t h e r o c k , a n d inserted wooden wedges. These were then wet with water: their swelling, caused by the natural expansion of the wood, ,would cause the marble block to detach from the mountain. The Romans u s e d m e t a l c h i s e l s t o c u t blocks with a depth of about 2 meters. Metallic chisels were inserted into cuts about 20cm (around 9 in) deep, and after much continuous hammering, the block was separated from the moun- tain. Then, to cut the block into smaller slabs, two men would use a large handsaw while a mixture of water and silica was poured onto the block to facilitate the cutting process. It's incredible to think that, each day, only about 8cm would be cut, and it could take up to two years from extracting the marble to transporting it to the coast. During the 18 th century, e x p l o s i o n s w e r e u s e d t o extract the marble, but this method was aborted pretty quickly after it was realised t h a t t h e d a m a g e t o t h e Apuan Alps was great and too much waste was created. Once the marble blocks w e r e c u t a w a y f r o m t h e mountain, another challenge lay ahead: how to transport the marble down the moun- tain, to the sea port. One of the most dangerous jobs in working in the marble quar- ries was to be involved in the transport. The marble blocks weighing about 30 tons had to be carefully transported down very steep slopes on a sleigh-type structure that w o u l d s l i d e o n w o o d e n beams greased with soap. Ropes were used by about 10-12 men to try and control the marble and to resist the pull of gravity. Two other men had the job of transfer- ring the beams from the back t o t h e f r o n t a n d y o u c a n imagine how often accidents happened: many men were killed. Oxen were also used and the work was so strenu- ous for them that often they w o u l d d i e a l o n g t h e w a y . There are wonderful black and white photographs docu- m e n t i n g t h e s e p o w e r f u l beasts hauling blocks of mar- ble down to the sea port, o n t o t h e p i e r w h e r e t h e y LIFE PEOPLE PLACES HERITAGE TONI BRANCATISANO The Carrara marble quarry of Fantiscritti (Photo courtesy of Toni Brancatisano) Harvesting beauty in Carrara Continued to page 14

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