SERPENTINO

2018 Marble green of Prato, postcard on aluminum, stainless steel 26 x 30 x 18 cm

Ph Giorgio Benni

This series of works consists of assemblies where a relation of interdependence between the postcards, pictures or drawings and a marble relic is established.They are no longer existing or dwindling marbles, fragments of history which extend in our historical/artistic/cultural imaginary, because they represent the materials used to build the best-known Italian monuments in the world.
For example, the green marble of Prato –also called “serpentine”– can be found throughout the facades of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, while the Candoglia marble was used for the Duomo of Milan, the Pietraforte stone for Palazzo Pitti and the Breccia Medicea marble for the columns in the squares of Florence. Such marble was named after Cosimo de Medici, who ordered their construction to demonstrate his greatness.
Besides preventing future restoration, the depletion of such materials demonstrates that, as long as we consume natural resources, we also erase our history.