Carrara Marble Quarries

Let us discover together this place of extraordinary beauty

The ancient Romans knew that the heart of the Apuan Alps contained a precious material that could serve the purpose of celebrating the power of the Empire. In the Middle Ages, the Comacine Masters used marble to build and decorate the cathedrals standing along the roads of faith travelled by pilgrims. The Renaissance Age’s thirst for art and beauty contributed greatly, through its artists, to the cult of Carrara Marble, this extraordinary gift of nature that rises from the sea to the sky revealing its blinding whiteness. The name of Michelangelo Buonarroti, the greatest of all Renaissance artists, is closely associated with these rough and generous rocks. He personally picked the blocks of marble from the quarries to carve his immortal masterpieces, such as the Pietà, the David and the Moses.

Today, sculptors and artists come here not only because here they can find the world’s most beautiful marble, but also to take in the atmosphere rooted in the past yet projected in the future, that special “marriage” of art, nature, inspiration and freely-expressed creativity which can hardly be found elsewhere. Over the years, the marble quarries have served has a backdrop to the artwork by some of the greatest stars of the international art system such as Jan Fabre, Daniel Buren, Cattelan, Antony Gormley, Damien Hirst, but also musicians like David Bryan, the keyboardist for the rock band Bon Jovi. Being attracted to the special acoustics that the caves produce, Bryan played a spectacular marble piano inside the quarry. All these artists contribute, through their art and creativity, to the use of such a fascinating but difficult material in a modern and contemporary way.

The Carrara area, along with Pietrasanta, Seravezza and surroundings are filled with quarries vibrating with life and are seen as a “test-bed” for experimenting with new styles and languages, a sort of cultural district, a showcase for young artists, a blend of tradition, genius, creative spirit and innovation.

“One can do anything with marble”, says Fiammetta Vannelli, an entrepreneur, designer and artist, a child of this land, deeply in love with marble from an early age, when her father used to take her to the quarries with him. Her love of marble is the reason behind the establishment of Statuaria Arte, the first workshop she opened with her brother and cousin, a special place where she welcomes artists, offering them the chance to create works of art and showcase them.

Over the years and having had major working experiences abroad, Fiammetta Vannelli developed an expertise in the art market which allowed her to express herself in the most varied fields and collaborate with artists and young sculptors such as Matthew Spender, Mario Tapia, Massimiliano Giornetti, Marco Borgianni, with her creations enjoying fast-growing success.

She created a very sophisticated line of marble objects for everyday use, introducing marble in the day-to-day life and homes all over the world, from London to Paris, from Switzerland to North America. Fully aware of the preciousness and uniqueness of this material, Fiammetta Vannelli paid homage to marble by creating a jewelry collection, named Fiammetta V Zona 67, of rare, unique and very elegant pieces, including men’s cuff links and buttons, which not only serve as decorative elements, but testify to their creator’s love of nature and of Italian creativity and genius.