Marbres de Rois
Work published with the scientific and financial support of the CRCV.
Publication of papers from the international symposium Marbres de Rois (Versailles, 22-24 May 2003), directed by Pascal Julien, Publications de l’université de Provence (PUP), (“Arts” Collection), April 2013, 17 X 22 cm, 348 p., 49 plates, €29 (ISBN: 978-2-85399-875-8).
Abstract
Marble was a royal material of the mineral kingdom. During the 17th and 18th centuries, both the purest varieties and the most highly coloured were keenly sought after and employed lavishly to celebrate the glory of the sovereigns. But although these stones from the beginning of time have retained the magic of their shimmering reflections, their history is still relatively unknown.
The first symposium on their use in the palaces of Europe was held in Versailles, a radiant example of splendour and a centre of court pomp and brilliance. The studies in this book conjure up the magnificent decorations, but they also look at the origins, the exploitation, the transport and trading of these stones on a national and an international scale. For, over and above its opulence, wherever marble was wrested from the mountains, it was part of a tremendous human adventure.
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