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Carrara Marble
Carrara marble, or Luna marble (''marmor lunense'') to the Romans, is a type of white or blue-grey marble popular for use in sculpture and building decor. It has been quarried since Roman times in the mountains just outside the city of Carrara in the province of Massa and Carrara in the Lunigiana, the northernmost tip of modern-day Tuscany, Italy. More marble has been extracted from the over 650 quarry sites near Carrara than from any other place. The pure white ''statuario'' grade was used for monumental sculpture, as "it has a high tensile strength, can take a high gloss polish and holds very fine detail".Kings History Carrara marble has been used since the time of Ancient Rome, when it was called ''marmor lunense'', or "Luni marble". In the Middle Ages, most of the quarries were owned by the Marquis Malaspina who in turn rented them to families of Carrara masters who managed both the extraction and transport of the precious material. Some of them, such as the Maffioli, who ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carrara
Carrara ( ; ; , ) is a town and ''comune'' in Tuscany, in central Italy, of the province of Massa and Carrara, and notable for the white or blue-grey Carrara marble, marble quarried there. It is on the Carrione River, some Boxing the compass, west-northwest of Florence. Its motto is Latin: '' "" ("My strength is in the wheel"), a reference firstly to the marble shipping industry from Roman times onwards. Toponymy The word ''Carrara'' likely comes from the pre-Roman (Celtic languages, Celtic or Ligurian language (ancient), Ligurian) element ''kar'' (stone), through Latin ''carrariae'' meaning 'quarries'. History There were known settlements in the area as early as the ninth century BC, when the Apuan Ligures lived in the region. The current town originated from the borough built to house workers in the marble quarries created by the ancient Rome, Romans after their conquest of Liguria in the early second century BC. Carrara has been linked with the process of quarrying and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Massa Cathedral
Massa Cathedral () is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Massa, Tuscany, Massa, Tuscany, central Italy. It is dedicated to Saint Cerbonius. Formerly a conventual church, it was declared the episcopal seat of the Diocese of Massa Carrara at its creation in 1822, and is now the seat of the bishop of Massa Carrara-Pontremoli. History The church originated as a pieve dedicated to Saint Peter, enlarged in the 16th and 17th century. It became a collegiate church in 1629. In 1672, the building collapsed, and at the end of the century was replaced by a new one, designed by Alessandro Bergamini. This construction was demolished by order of duchess Elisa Bonaparte (sister of Napoleon) in 1807, when the dedication to Saint Peter was transferred to the church of Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis in Massa, which had been reconstructed in 1660–1670. This church had a large marble high altar, with further altars in the transept, and paintings by Carlo Maratta (''Mary Immaculate'') and Luigi Garzi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michelangelo
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (6March 147518February 1564), known mononymously as Michelangelo, was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was inspired by models from classical antiquity and had a lasting influence on Western art. Michelangelo's creative abilities and mastery in a range of artistic arenas define him as an archetypal Renaissance man, along with his rival and elder contemporary, Leonardo da Vinci. Given the sheer volume of surviving correspondence, sketches, and reminiscences, Michelangelo is one of the best-documented artists of the 16th century. He was lauded by contemporary biographers as the most accomplished artist of his era. Michelangelo achieved fame early. Two of his best-known works, the ''Pietà (Michelangelo), Pietà'' and ''David (Michelangelo), David'', were sculpted before the age of 30. Although he did not consider himself a painter, Michelangelo created ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and surpass the ideas and achievements of classical antiquity. Associated with great social change in most fields and disciplines, including Renaissance art, art, Renaissance architecture, architecture, politics, Renaissance literature, literature, Renaissance exploration, exploration and Science in the Renaissance, science, the Renaissance was first centered in the Republic of Florence, then spread to the Italian Renaissance, rest of Italy and later throughout Europe. The term ''rinascita'' ("rebirth") first appeared in ''Lives of the Artists'' () by Giorgio Vasari, while the corresponding French word was adopted into English as the term for this period during the 1830s. The Renaissance's intellectual basis was founded in its version of Renaiss ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Column Of Marcus Aurelius
The Column of Marcus Aurelius (, ) is a Roman victory column located in Piazza Colonna, Rome, Italy. A Doric column adorned with a detailed spiral relief, it was built in honor of Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius and modeled after Trajan's Column. Dedicated to the emperor and his military campaigns during the Barbarian Wars, the monument stands as a testament to his reign from 161 to 180 AD. Although few primary sources from his time directly reference the column, many of his documented military deeds are illustrated in its reliefs. The monument was erected to honor Aurelius's memory and designed with grandeur to commemorate his accomplishments. The column's frieze, approximately 367 feet (112 meters) long, spirals upward 21 times, depicting the emperor’s campaigns against the Germanic and Sarmatian tribes. The Romans referred to the wars north of the Danube as Bellum Germanicum or Bellum Marcomannicum. The column most likely served a dual purpose: celebrating Aurelius's mili ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pantheon, Rome
The Pantheon (, ; ,Although the spelling ''Pantheon'' is standard in English, only ''Pantheum'' is found in classical Latin; see, for example, Pliny, ''Natural History'36.38 "Agrippas Pantheum decoravit Diogenes Atheniensis". See also ''Oxford Latin Dictionary'', s.v. "Pantheum"; ''Oxford English Dictionary'', s.v"Pantheon" "post-classical Latin ''pantheon'' a temple consecrated to all the gods (6th cent.; compare classical Latin ''pantheum'')". ) is an ancient 2nd century Roman temple and, since AD 609, a Catholic church called the Basilica of St. Mary and the Martyrs () in Rome, Italy. It is perhaps the most famous, and architecturally most influential, rotunda. The Pantheon was built on the site of an earlier temple, which had been commissioned by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa during the reign of Augustus (27 BC – AD 14). After the original burnt down, the present building was ordered by the emperor Hadrian and probably dedicated AD 126. Its date of construction i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Valletta
Valletta ( ; , ) is the capital city of Malta and one of its 68 Local councils of Malta, council areas. Located between the Grand Harbour to the east and Marsamxett Harbour to the west, its population as of 2021 was 5,157. As Malta’s capital city, it is a commercial centre for shopping, bars, dining, and café life. It is also the southernmost capital of Europe, and at just , it is the European Union's smallest capital city. Valletta's 16th-century buildings were constructed by the Hospitaller Malta, Knights Hospitaller. The city was named after the Frenchman Jean Parisot de Valette, who succeeded in defending the island against an Ottoman invasion during the Great Siege of Malta. The city is Baroque architecture, Baroque in character, with elements of Mannerist architecture#Mannerist architecture, Mannerist, Neoclassical architecture, Neo-Classical and Modern architecture, though the Second World War left major scars on the city, particularly the destruction of the Royal Oper ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Temple Of Proserpina
The Temple of Proserpina or Temple of Proserpine () was a Roman temple in Mtarfa, Malta, an area which was originally a suburb outside the walls of Melite. It was dedicated to Proserpina, goddess of the underworld and renewal. The date of construction is unknown, but it was renovated in the 1st century BC or AD. The ruins of the temple were discovered in 1613, and most of its marble blocks were later used in the decoration of buildings, including Auberge d'Italie and the Castellania in Valletta. Only a few fragments still survive today. History and architecture The only epigraphic evidence of the temple is the Chrestion inscription, which was discovered among its ruins in 1613. It records that the temple was already old and was threatening to collapse during the reign of Augustus in the 1st century BC or AD, and it was restored by Chrestion, the procurator of the Maltese Islands. This inscription is the earliest known Latin text that was found in Malta. It read: The temple ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Smithsonian (magazine)
''Smithsonian'' is a magazine covering science, history, art, popular culture and innovation. The first issue was published in 1970. History The history of ''Smithsonian'' began when Edward K. Thompson, the retired editor of ''Life'' magazine, was asked by then-Secretary of the Smithsonian, S. Dillon Ripley, to produce a magazine "about things in which the Smithsonian nstitutionis interested, might be interested or ought to be interested." Thompson later recalled that his philosophy for the new magazine was that it "would stir curiosity in already receptive minds. It would deal with history as it is relevant to the present. It would present art, since true art is never dated, in the richest possible reproduction. It would peer into the future via coverage of social progress and of science and technology. Technical matters would be digested and made intelligible by skilled writers who would stimulate readers to reach upward while not turning them off with jargon. We would fin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carrara Marble Quarry
Carrara ( ; ; , ) is a town and ''comune'' in Tuscany, in central Italy, of the province of Massa and Carrara, and notable for the white or blue-grey marble quarried there. It is on the Carrione River, some west-northwest of Florence. Its motto is Latin: '' "" ("My strength is in the wheel"), a reference firstly to the marble shipping industry from Roman times onwards. Toponymy The word ''Carrara'' likely comes from the pre-Roman (Celtic or Ligurian) element ''kar'' (stone), through Latin ''carrariae'' meaning 'quarries'. History There were known settlements in the area as early as the ninth century BC, when the Apuan Ligures lived in the region. The current town originated from the borough built to house workers in the marble quarries created by the Romans after their conquest of Liguria in the early second century BC. Carrara has been linked with the process of quarrying and carving marble since the Roman Age. Marble was exported from the nearby harbour of Luni at the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lunigiana Revolt
The Lunigiana revolt took place in January 1894, in the stone and marble quarries of Massa and Carrara in the Lunigiana, the northernmost tip of Tuscany (Italy), in support of the Fasci Siciliani (Sicilian Leagues) uprising on Sicily. After a state of siege had been proclaimed by the Crispi government, armed bands dispersed into the mountains pursued by troops. Hundreds of insurgents were arrested and tried by military tribunals. Background According to a ''New York Times'' article of 1894, workers in the marble quarries were among the most neglected labourers in Italy. Many of them were ex-convicts or fugitives from justice. The work at the quarries was so tough that almost any aspirant worker with sufficient muscle and endurance was employed, regardless of their background.A Stronghold of Anarchists ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
