The Road That Michaelangelo Built To Mine Marble

Michelangelo the sculpture is already complete within the marble block before i start my work.

The road that michaelangelo built to mine marble. The marble road of the cervaiole quarry winds through monte altissimo photographed on july 14 2017. He began to work almost immediately producing the madonna of the steps between 1490 1492 and battle of the centaurs between 1491 1492. In 1408 the committee had decided to decorate the roofline around the dome of the cathedral with massive statues of. One of the many roads crossing the apuan alps it is imbued with a legacy that has shaped the character of all towns in alta versilia.

It is already there i just have to chisel away the su. It s the marble memory of michelangelo that makes the strongest impact. The same marble mines that michelangelo used see 514 traveler reviews 526 candid photos and great deals for carrara italy at tripadvisor. Michelangelo and marble in carrara.

Michelangelo was introduced to sculpture whilst studying in the household of the medici. In the three centuries following michelangelo s time the altissimo quarries went through. With the blessing of pope leo x michelangelo designed a path that could get blocks of the white marble down from the mountain to be transported to florence to be used to decorate the facade of the. The great michelangelo buonarroti caprese 1475 rome 1564 though he did not leave any of his works of art in carrara always had a close relationship with the town staying there many times to visit the quarries and choose personally the marbles.

After finding the right stone michelangelo would have hired a crew of cavatori or quarrymen and scarpellini or stone carvers to cut blocks out of the mountain. A document from 1501 refers to a massive barely begun statue a certain man of marble named david badly blocked out and laid on its back in the courtyard the stone was a leftover from a long running decorative project. Michelangelo chose carrara marble for his acclaimed pietà statue kept in st peter s basilica in the vatican which depicts the body of christ on the lap of his mother mary after his crucifixion. Marble caves of carrara.

At seravezza he also had to coordinate building and widening several miles of new road part of which required men with picks to cut a route deep into the marble mountains.