Porphyry Block

Porphyry block - 36 kg
Porphyry is a purple colored stone with white speckles recognized for its high hardness. It has been used in sculpture and architecture since Antiquity, in particular in the manufacture of columns, pavements or colored draperies in sculpture, due to its color which was associated with imperial prestige. Over the following centuries, porphyry loses its imperial symbolism but retains its image as a rare and precious material and therefore has a purely decorative use. Until the beginning of the 19th century, it was the ancient porphyry already extracted which was reused in the production of works of art such as vases for example, due to the closure in the 5th century of the exploitation of the only deposit. then operated.