Souffleur, what is red marble from Verona?

SOUFFLEUR

red marble from Verona

Art, like all domains, has its own vocabulary. In ‘Souffleur’, M staff explain specialist terms that may sound familiar to you but perhaps no have forgotten what they mean, or you never did know.

Marjan Debaene, Head Curator of Old Masters: “Red marble is actually a type of limestone containing fossilized remains and lighter-coloured nodules and veins. It can be found all over the world, including in Belgium, where it’s used for window sills, fireplaces, etc..”

“The marmo rosso variant, which comes from the Verona region of northern Italy, ranges in colour from dark orange to light grey. As in our ‘Maria lactans’, the 13th-century statue of Mary breastfeeding the baby Jesus, the sculptor Brioloto di Balneo has used a pale, uniform stone, which we initially believed to be alabaster.”

“Our ‘Maria lactans’ statue belongs to the Flemish Community, who recently commissioned a 3D scan of it. This was part of the Twin-it project, a European initiative to create a digital heritage archive as a safeguard against war and natural disasters. A 3D print of the statue was also made. We plan to use this during tours for visually impaired individuals, or in workshops for children.”

Would you like to view the 3D scan?