Marble is a metamorphic rock derived from limestone, which is mostly composed of calcite. Marble is formed when the limestone is transformed by heat and pressure after being overlain by other materials. Sculpting with marble is an ancient and cherished art. Humans have been fashioning shapes from stone since our very humble and first beginnings – even before scribbling on cave walls! Sculpting monuments with marble began as early as the first century BC, or even earlier according to current findings. Marble sculptures are extremely durable, and even over centuries they still retain their exquisite beauty and durability – some examples being: The David, by Michelangelo in Florence; Moses, by Michelangelo in Rome, and the Venus De Milo, in the Louvre, in Paris. These have kept their magnificence for hundreds of years. All over the world today marble sculptures bring intriguing beauty to home owners, business owners, gardens, galleries, schools, religious institutions, and all manner of other venues; to refine, decorate, and honor particular people of special influence.

Back in the time of the great Michelangelo, during the Renaissance period, the only way to create a marble sculpture or monument was to tediously chip away chunks from an enormous marble block using tools like a point chisel, a pitching tool, and a large mallet. The great disadvantages of this being that if even the slightest miscalculation was made it could irreversibly damage the stone, or even worse – it could severely injure the sculptor’s hands – not to mention the inherent time and muscle power it undoubtedly took as well.

Today artists have developed extremely modern methods of stone casting, due to the much-needed concept of ‘mass production’ in the business of art today. There are also several different types of marble combinations that can be used. In this statue casting process, marble is mixed together with resins and binding agents and then poured into a mold that was created from the original clay model. The genius of this new and innovative marble casting process is that these marble statue replicas are still extremely strong and weather resistant, and they will not yellow over time – they don’t crack or have bubbles, and they can be washed with most cleaning agents. So, thanks to these amazingly modern processes, all of us can enjoy the elegant beauty of marble statues in our homes and other venues at much more affordable prices. And the painstaking ‘chip away’ process that used to take a year or two – (or more), to complete one large marble statue, now can be finished at an incredibly faster rate.

For More information on Bronze Sculpture go to http://www.bawdenartandbronze.com