Marble from the Isle of Paros in Historical Greece – a tour of the traditional quarries
That is the secondof fourarticles on the quarries of the traditional world and later, and, specifically, the marble that was quarried there and the art work that was constituted of it. The primary (Mining in Historical Greece and Rome) was printed in Challenge 41 of this journal.
Some introductory phrases
Basically, marble represents a coarse-grained metamorphic rock primarily consisting of the minerals calcite (CaCOthree) and dolomite ((Ca,Mg) (COthree)2). The phrase ‘marble’ could also be derived from the Greek time period ‘marmaros’ (μάρμαρος), which suggests ‘shiny stone’. The earliest use of the rock dates again to the fourth millenium BC, when it was thought of, for the primary time, as applicable materials for the development of buildings and the manufacturing of moderately primitive sculptures. Within the Classical period beginning firstly of the fifth century BC, its use was topic to a exceptional improve, which, amongst different issues, entailed the prevailance of this shiny materials in historical Greek structure and sculptural artwork. At the moment, marble was merely termed ‘white stone’ or ‘Pentelic, Hymettus or Parian stone’, thereby indicating its preferential origin from the quarries of Naxos, Paros and Mount Pentelicus. Though these mines attained extraordinary eminence in antiquity, marble was additionally exploited from the quarries of Eleusis, Tripoli, Argos, Selinus, Syracuse, Skyros and different locations.
Marble from Paros – a really explicit stone
Every marble originating from an area quarry is characterised by very particular options. Stone materials from Mount Pentelicus is distinguished by its white color and fine-grained texture, moderately excessive transparency and a minimal quantity of iron impurities. However, Parian marble can also be white, however exhibits a coarse-grained texture. The principle benefit of Parian marble consists of its wonderful purity and straightforward workability, which implies that it’s carved with out nice effort. Within the Classical period, the stone was also referred to as ‘lychnite’, resulting from its extraction from deep underground galleries that had been lit by lamps, the Greek phrase for which is ‘lychnoi’ (λύχνοι). The marble of Naxos is moderately much like that of Paros, however doesn’t have such a wonderful high quality. Nevertheless, in later occasions, it was more and more used each in sculpture and structure.
Concentrating on the marble of the Isle of Paros, it should be emphasised that this materials was extremely prized in historical Greece and primarily served as uncooked materials for buildings, temples and every kind of sculptures. A few of these extraordinary items of artwork will probably be mentioned in additional element beneath. The unique quarries of Parian marble had been explointed from the sixth century BC onwards and may nonetheless be accessed on the north facet of the island and on the slopes of its central peak. Most historical marble quarries utilized in Classical occasions are located between the villages of Paroikia and Agios Minas. They may also be discovered within the valley extending to the harbour of Naoussa, within the north of the island. An necessary centre of marble exploitation was the northern flank of Mount Marpesso, a massif in the course of Paros, not removed from the village of Marathi. Whereas within the Classical period and most elements of the Hellenistic period, marble manufacturing was below the management of the Greeks, within the first century BC, it got here below Roman affect. The rock was of such excessive eminence that even Pliny talked about it in his well-known ‘Naturalis historia’.
After the autumn of the Roman Empire, the marble quarries of Paros had been shut down and fell into oblivion for a whole bunch of years. Nevertheless, within the Center Ages, the rock materials was preferentially used for native buildings. Within the thirteenth century, for example, the Citadel of Paros was solely constructed utilizing Parian marble. Within the second half of the nineteenth century, mining exercise on the island was more and more sponsored with overseas capital, in order that it attained an nearly industrial scale of manufacturing. The uncooked materials was transported on a railway line to the harbour of Paroikia, the place it was shipped to the Greek mainland, Germany, Austria and quite a few Oriental locations. These days, some quarries are nonetheless in operation, offering valuable uncooked materials for every kind of use in structure and artwork (Fig. 1). The village of Paroikia accommodates a small archaeological museum based in 1960, the place quite a few excavation finds are displayed. These displays (amongst others) embody relics of historical marble works.
Legendary examples of Parian marble sculptures
As already talked about, Parian marble was extremely esteemed resulting from its crystal texture, giving rise to a exceptional transparency. This resulted in it getting used for the roofs of enormous temples, as a result of it assured a specific amount of pure inside gentle. Amongst most necessary historical buildings constructed with Parian marble had been the Temple of Apollo in Delphi, in addition to a number of temples in Delos, Olympia and Athens. Additionally, the roof tiles of the Parthenon had been product of this particular materials.
In sculptural artwork, Parian marble additionally represented a really continuously used working materials. Among the many most well-known figures constituted of this stone are the Medici Venus, exhibited within the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, and the Aphrodite of Melos, housed within the Louvre in Paris. The Medici Venus represents a lifesize Hellenistic sculpture depicting the Greek goddess of affection, Aphrodite. Based on archaeological analysis, it’s a copy of an authentic bronze determine, which adopted the custom of the Aphrodite of Knidos and was made by the well-known sculptor, Praxiteles. The goddess is depicted in a transitory pose, as if shocked within the act of rising from the ocean, to which the dolphin at her left foot alludes (Fig. 2; left). It’s assumed, nonetheless, that the marble copy is from the late Hellenistic part of the primary century BC and possibly represented work ordered by a Roman patrician.
The half-naked Aphrodite of Melos can also be an awesome murals, and at the moment hundreds of tourists to the Louvre crowd round this statue, misplaced in admiration. Right here, the Greek goddess is depicted together with her left leg lifted and strongly projecting, whereas her proper foot is introduced again to stabilise and stability the uneven weight distribution. Her physique is characterised by a slight torsion and a pronounced outer thrust of the fitting hip. The material is securely held round her hips by the wealth of horizontal and diagonal fold patterns. Aphrodite has lengthy hair, which is parted within the center and caught up in a ribbon, and her face is softly modelled and of outstanding magnificence. It’s assumed that the determine was made within the late second or early first century BC.
Different well-known sculptures made with Parian marble embody Hermes with the Toddler Dionysos and the Winged Nike of Samothrace (Fig. three). The previous was found in 1877 within the ruins of the Temple of Hera in Olympia. As we speak, it’s exhibited on the Archaeological Museum of Olympia. Based on the Greek traveller, Pausanias, the statue could also be attributed to Praxiteles, an attribution, nonetheless, which has produced a fierce controversy amongst artwork historians. Hermes is depicted as a unadorned younger man, along with his legs posing in a classical contrapost place and his physique growing a big chiasm. In his left arm, he holds the younger Dionysos, whereas the preserved a part of his proper arm is streched ahead. The face and torso of the god are hanging for his or her extremely polished, glowing floor, whereas the again exhibits the marks of the rasp and chisel. Primarily based on its normal structure, the determine could also be assigned to the fourth century BC.
The Winged Nike of Samothrace was found in 1863 and is conventionally thought to have been made for the celebration of a naval victory. Since 1884, it has been exhibited on the Louvre and is taken into account to be some of the celebrated sculptures on the earth. It belongs to a small variety of main Hellenistic sculptures which have survived within the authentic, moderately than within the type of Roman copies. Regardless of its intensive injury and incompleteness, the Nike exhibits a mastery of type and motion – the goddess poses in contrapost, together with her wings unfold out and her material waving within the wind. The lack of her head is unquestionably regrettable in a way, however is held by many to extend the statue’s depiction of the supernatural. Based on archaeological analysis, the Winged Nike of Samothrace was made firstly of the second century BC and subsequently belongs to the principle part of the Hellenistic period.
Some concluding remarks
This text has tried to display that structure and, most of all, artwork of historical Greece had been primarily based on first-class working supplies, amongst which the marble from the Isle of Paros is extraordinarily necessary. This stone was already extremely prized in antiquity and nonetheless finds an awesome market at the moment. Many trendy buildings on the Greek islands and mainland are nonetheless constituted of Parian marble and, subsequently, observe an architectural custom going again 2,500.
Additional studying
Worth, M.T.: Ornamental stone, the entire supply ebook. Thames & Hudson, London, 2007.
Sturm, R.: Cameos from historical Greece and Rome: small however valuable treasures. Deposits Journal, 34, 44-46 (2013).
Sturm, R.: Tauern gold: the historical past of gold mining within the Central Alps. Deposits Journal, 37, 39-40 (2014).
Sturm, R.: Mining in historical Greece and Rome. Deposits Journal, 41, 43-45 (2015).
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