MARBLE DETAILS, McKINLEY BIRTHPLACE MEMORIAL,
NILES, OHIO
McKIM, MEAD & WHITE, ARCHITECTS
Venus and the Pentelic marble of which the Parthenon was constructed, are being worked now.
Another well known marble, Cipolino, was also equally well known to the ancients. The Temple of Jupiter Serapis, near Naples, was built of this marble. It is a grey-streaked micaceous marble with unusual decorative qualities.
The use of the many different marbles that have been imported into the United States has been confined more generally to decorative elements of architectural construction. Each of these various marbles possesses some well defined characteristics of color or texture, and certain possibilities of polish or carvings as well.
The principal marbles imported are as follows: Siena. This is a yellow marble. It is found near the town of that name, the ancient Siena Julia on the Via Clodia: Patches of a delicate grey or purple are often present in this marble, pieces of which
are much sought after, as their decorative value is considerable.
Skyros is found on an island in Greece in the fiEgean Sea. The brecciated examples, those whose granules are angular and not round or water-worn, are the most sought after. Breccia may always be distinguished by the angularity of its particles.
“Black and Gold’’ is an Italian marble found in Porto Venere, near the Gulf of Spezia. This is a limestone marble. The presence of brilliant yellow veining on a black ground gives it its present name. It is sometimes known as “Portor” marble, a corruption of the Italian Port d’Oro.
Brocatelle. This marble is found in the Pyrenees; it is a light yellow marble with red cloudings.
Carrara, the well known white marble quarried near the city from whence it takes its name, is used by sculptors everywhere on account of its beautiful texture under the chisel and for its purity of color.
Giallo Antico. This marble was much sought after by both Greek and Roman builders. It is yellow in color.
Nero Antico. A serpentine marble, greenish black.
Numidian, from Africa, not constant in color but more usually yellow.
Parian, a white marble, largely used by the ancient Greeks. It is found on the Island of Paros.
Pentelic, also used by the ancient Greeks. It is quarried near Athens.
Rosso Antico, a red marble.
Marble is chemically a carbonate of lime, more or less pure, according to the locality or situation of its origin. Lee, in his admirable work, “Marble and Marble Workers,” referring to the geological origin of marbles, states:
“With lime as a base or matrix, the different ingredients with which it has become associated are legion. They have been drawn from the animal, vegetable and mineral kingdoms, from land and sea. Fossil marbles are found full of the remains of once living creatures, now cemented together and hardened into blocks of stone. The marine origin of much of the marble found in Ireland and Belgium is to be traced to the shells of the Crustacea found
NILES, OHIO
McKIM, MEAD & WHITE, ARCHITECTS
Venus and the Pentelic marble of which the Parthenon was constructed, are being worked now.
Another well known marble, Cipolino, was also equally well known to the ancients. The Temple of Jupiter Serapis, near Naples, was built of this marble. It is a grey-streaked micaceous marble with unusual decorative qualities.
The use of the many different marbles that have been imported into the United States has been confined more generally to decorative elements of architectural construction. Each of these various marbles possesses some well defined characteristics of color or texture, and certain possibilities of polish or carvings as well.
The principal marbles imported are as follows: Siena. This is a yellow marble. It is found near the town of that name, the ancient Siena Julia on the Via Clodia: Patches of a delicate grey or purple are often present in this marble, pieces of which
are much sought after, as their decorative value is considerable.
Skyros is found on an island in Greece in the fiEgean Sea. The brecciated examples, those whose granules are angular and not round or water-worn, are the most sought after. Breccia may always be distinguished by the angularity of its particles.
“Black and Gold’’ is an Italian marble found in Porto Venere, near the Gulf of Spezia. This is a limestone marble. The presence of brilliant yellow veining on a black ground gives it its present name. It is sometimes known as “Portor” marble, a corruption of the Italian Port d’Oro.
Brocatelle. This marble is found in the Pyrenees; it is a light yellow marble with red cloudings.
Carrara, the well known white marble quarried near the city from whence it takes its name, is used by sculptors everywhere on account of its beautiful texture under the chisel and for its purity of color.
Giallo Antico. This marble was much sought after by both Greek and Roman builders. It is yellow in color.
Nero Antico. A serpentine marble, greenish black.
Numidian, from Africa, not constant in color but more usually yellow.
Parian, a white marble, largely used by the ancient Greeks. It is found on the Island of Paros.
Pentelic, also used by the ancient Greeks. It is quarried near Athens.
Rosso Antico, a red marble.
Marble is chemically a carbonate of lime, more or less pure, according to the locality or situation of its origin. Lee, in his admirable work, “Marble and Marble Workers,” referring to the geological origin of marbles, states:
“With lime as a base or matrix, the different ingredients with which it has become associated are legion. They have been drawn from the animal, vegetable and mineral kingdoms, from land and sea. Fossil marbles are found full of the remains of once living creatures, now cemented together and hardened into blocks of stone. The marine origin of much of the marble found in Ireland and Belgium is to be traced to the shells of the Crustacea found