Painting in Stone

A sweeping history of premodern architecture told through the material of stone

Spanning almost five millennia, Painting in Stone tells a new history of premodern architecture through the material of precious stone. Lavishly illustrated examples include the synthetic gems used to simulate Sumerian and Egyptian heavens; the marble temples and mansions of Greece and Rome; the painted palaces and polychrome marble chapels of early modern Italy; and the multimedia revival in 19th-century England. Poetry, the lens for understanding costly marbles as an artistic medium, summoned a spectrum of imaginative associations and responses, from princes and patriarchs to the populace. Three salient themes sustained this “lithic imagination”: marbles as images of their own elemental substance according to premodern concepts of matter and geology; the perceived indwelling of astral light in earthly stones; and the enduring belief that colored marbles exhibited a form of natural—or divine—painting, thanks to their vivacious veining, rainbow palette, and chance images.

O istorie cuprinzatoare a arhitecturii premoderne povestita prin materialul din piatra Pe o durata de aproape cinci milenii, Pictura in piatra spune o noua istorie a arhitecturii premoderne prin materialul pietrei pretioase. Exemple generoase ilustrate includ bijuteriile sintetice utilizate pentru a simula cerurile sumeriene si egiptene; templele si conacele de marmura din Grecia si Roma; palatele pictate si capelele din marmura policroma ale Italiei moderne timpurii; si renasterea multimedia in Anglia secolului al XIX-lea.