Designer floors
Marbles that made the history of art
Stepping on
We hear the word marble and we imagine sculpture and statues, the undisputed leaders in art history. Then the interior furnishings, both ancient and modern, come to mind. But we sometimes forget, walking through the beauties of Italy, where we — literally — “put our feet”. And they are often marble floors of great beauty, which have survived centuries of history and entire generations.
In Venice, for example
What will they have seen, and heard, for example, the incredible floors that we admire, fascinated, in the Venetian churches of Santa Maria della Salute or the Redentore? Geometrical floors, made by play of light and shadows, with shapes and colours that resist over time, in a simple perfection. These marbles have been silently witnessing life, death and historical events, and times that no longer exist.
But also in Rome
Geometry and chromatic play make the Pantheon‘s marble floor an extraordinary artistic masterpiece. Circles and squares chase each other in a magical design full of symbolism: it is the result of a deep knowledge of art and of a highly skilled craftsmanship. At the Pantheon, marble lends its palette of colours to create an effect that we can only define as unique and bewitching, in its elegant richness.
Not only churches
Long ago those who could afford a palace or a glamorous villa, asked an architect to design the floors of each room, with different motifs and decorations, suitable for the destination of each of them. Not only the aristocracy, but also the high clergy chose the purity and beauty of marble, the stone par excellence, which offered not only elegance, but also a tangible demonstration of their social status. Something that, as we can still see today, would have survived even after them, in memory of their wealth and power.
