These two very different materials are treated together here because they
were the most important, most common, and most competitive materials
used for both the honorific statue and portrait displayed in a private
context. In the current context, any white stone, marble or (technically
more correct) limestone, which takes a polish is understood as
marble. Marble is by far the dominant surviving material for portraits.
However, although it was quarried around most of the Mediterranean,
the high quality marble which was desired for statuary was only supplied
by a relatively limited number of quarries in Italy, Greece and Asia
Minor.

Read the rest of this entry »