The historical city of Verona has plenty to offer its visitors at any time. Magnificent architecture, numerous places of interest, and lots of cultural events taking place all year round make Verona a must-see at least once in your life.
Some prestigious trade events are held in Verona, too. If your vocation is related to stone processing, you have one more reason to stay in this city between September 27 and 30. The reputable trade event named MARMOMAC is definitely worth visiting.
Here you’ll see everything related to processing natural stone: cutting-edge technologies and specific machinery for cutting and polishing stone, newly developed tools, chemicals that facilitate the technological processes… And, of course, this event can boast of a special cultural section, where a variety of articles made of stone are showcased. This exhibition, named BRAND&STONE, is extremely popular with all attendees. No wonder: even trade professionals from this industry are impressed when they see beautiful things made of stone – probably, the oldest material known to humankind.
The event will be held inside The Italian Stone Theatre, located at Verona Fiere. This year, Brand&Stone will be curated by Giorgio Canale, a renowned Italian architect. The original concept of the fair is conceived by DDM Branding, the reputable international branding agency, and its founder Danilo Di Michele.
Cross-pollination between industrial matters on the one hand, and the art of design, on the other – that’s what Brand&Stone is all about.
For Italian luxury furniture makers like Bellavista Collection, participating in Brand&Stone is one more occasion to show their achievements in using this fascinating material.
It’s no secret that stone gets much fewer furniture makers’ attention than it deserves. This material is beautiful and durable, but its processing could be pretty complicated – if you don’t use modern machines and techniques, including those presented at MARMOMAC.
MICHELANGELO: Carrara Marble Plus Natural Oak
The extraordinary potential of natural stone, particularly marble, as a material for making high-end furniture, can hardly be overestimated. You’ll realize it at once if you look at the showpieces from Bellavista Collection and other brands, picked for this edition of Brand&Stone.
A grand-looking dining table named MICHELANGELO is among the newly designed items, which Bellavista Collection is going to display at the upcoming event. Designed in Bellavista Collection and produced in collaboration with ARTEMARMI, the Italian marble processing company, Michelangelo will definitely turn heads at the fair.
The marble top of this table is round and rather large: 210 centimeters in diameter. It rests on four wooden legs, somehow boot-shaped. The noble look of marble and the warmth of natural wood (solid American oak in its natural color), not to mention the excellent design from Attilio Zanni, make this table a real attention-grabber.
If you love natural materials and appreciate the prime quality Bellavista Collection has always been known for, the MICHELANGELO table will be a great choice for your home.
True to Its Name
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, widely known under his short name Michelangelo – the Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet from the High Renaissance – has long become an inseparable part of world culture. So, why a furniture piece is named after a person so famous that virtually everyone knows him?
Well, there is a certain reason for it, and it’s magnificent Carrara marble, used for making the tabletop.
Being a multi-talented person, Michelangelo considered himself primarily a sculptor. His favorite material was Carrara marble, sometimes also called Luna marble, from the quarries in the Apuan Alps. This genius of a sculptor took selecting marble for his future masterpieces very seriously. According to the memoirs of his contemporaries, Michelangelo personally visited marble quarries near the city of Carrara in search of the very best chunks of stone.
To pick the right stone for his Pietà, Moses, David, and other great works, the sculptor walked all over the quarries for days, regardless of the season. For example, in late autumn of 1497, when the weather was pretty cold, windy, and rainy, the 22-year-old Michelangelo was strolling somewhere there, in search of material for his Pietà (‘pity’ or ‘compassion’ in Italian).
Carved out of a single chunk of marble, this sculpture, depicting dead Jesus on Mother Mary’s lap, is among his most famous masterpieces. By the way, it took the sculptor three years to create it!
Where Michelangelo’s Favorite Marble Comes From
The quarries in Apuan Alps, where Carrara marble comes from, could themselves be called a historical place. Marble has been constantly quarried here for about two thousand years – ever since the times of Ancient Rome.
Apuan Alps is a mountain range in northern Tuscany, which, as it’s easy to guess, used to be a sea bed. As you probably know, marble is a metamorphic rock. It means that it results from the so-called metamorphism of limestone, which in its turn, is formed out of the remnants of the countless sea creatures that lived millions of years ago.
From the middle Triassic period, the sea sediments at that place hardened into dolomite, limestone, as well as shale, and sandstone. Harsh pressure and high temperatures transformed the limestone into marble.
Thanks to erosion, Carrara marble comes to the surface in some places. It makes the mountains in Apuan Alps look as if they are covered with snow because the color of this kind of marble varies from pure white to slightly blueish-grey.
All in all, Carrara marble, with its thin golden and gray veins against the white background, has been popular with sculptors and artisans alike for already two millennia. It is hardly surprising: this stone is perfect for making both works of art and numerous utilitarian objects.
The showpieces at Brand&Stone will prove it once again: you’ll see lots of objects, made of Carrara marble, at this exhibition. So, if you are going to visit Verona soon, it’s a good idea to find some time and take a look at the pieces made of Carrara marble – the remarkable stone, equally good for sculptures and tabletops.
