Rosso antico marble

Description

1) A fine-grain, pink to deep red Marble with occasionally thin black veins and white markings. Rosso antico marble was used for sculptures by ancient Greeks, Romans, and Estrucans. It was quarried above the village of Agios Kyprianos on the east coast of Cape Tenaro (Cape Matapan) in Greece. Rosso antico marble was primarily used for small decorative architectural features, although it was also used for a few sculptures. A similar red marble was quarried in ancient times at Iasos, Province of Milas, in Asia Minor (marmor Iassense rosso). The red marble from Iasos can sometimes be distinguished by its larger grain size and variations in trace elements (Gorgoni et al, 2002; Lazzarini, 1990). 2) A red quartz and feldspar rock used by ancient Egyptian sculptors. 3) A matte, red glaze on ceramics.

Synonyms and Related Terms

marmor Taenarium (Lat.); marmor Iassense rosso (Lat.)

Additional Information

° Ancient Trade Routes: Website° Gorgoni C., Lazzarini L., Pallante P., 2002, New archaeometric data on Rosso Antico and other red marbles used in antiquity. In “ASMOSIA VI, Interdisciplinary Studies on Ancient Stone” (L.Lazzarini ed.), Padova, 199-206. ° Lazzarini L., 1990, Rosso Antico and other red marbles used in antiquity: a characterization study. In “Marble, Art History and Scientific Perspectives on Ancient Sculpture”, Malibu, 237-252.

Sources Checked for Data in Record

• Ralph Mayer, A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques, Harper and Row Publishers, New York, 1969 (also 1945 printing)

• Janet Burnett Grossman, Looking at Greek and Roman Sculpture in Stone, J. Paul Getty Trust, Los Angeles, 2003

• Janet Burnett Grossman, Looking at Greek and Roman Sculpture in Stone, J. Paul Getty Trust, Los Angeles, 2003 Comment: .. quarried in three places during antiquity: 1) on Cape Tainaron present day Matapan on the Peloponnese of Greece; 2) on Crete; and 3) at the site of Iasos in Asia Minor

• External source or communication Comment: A. Bostock, contributed information, June 2008

• External source or communication Comment: Andy Bostock, contributed information, June 2008