Title: Porphyry : red imperial porphyry. Power and religion = Porfido : rosso imperiale. Potere e religione /
Authors: Del Bufalo, Dario,; Comitato nazionale per il VI centenario dell'Università dei Marmorari de Roma,
Year: 2012
Subjects: Porphyry sculpture.; Porphyry sculpture Catalogs.; Porphyry.; Sculpture, Roman Catalogs.; Sculpture, Egyptian Catalogs.; Art and architecture Rome History.; Art and architecture Italy History.; Purple in art.; Art and society Rome History.; Art and society Italy History.; Art and religion Rome History.; Art and religion Italy History.
Abstract: This monograph looks at the stone material par excellence of the Roman Empire, the most expensive in the Edict of Diocletian - Red Egyptian Porphyry. Starting from the study of this marble, the author traces the history, art, architecture and historiography that over the course of two millennia have recounted the political, artistic, religious and symbolic values of Porphyry. The colour of porphyry represented royalty in the time of the Lagids, the authority of the Roman Empire and the power of the Catholic Church - it was a fundamental colour in the Cosmati middles ages, highly sought after by the grand dukes of Tuscany and the richest element of Baroque opulence and the neoclassical renaissance. The strength of this study, in addition to its historical and photographic components, lies in the corpus of almost 1,000 profiles on porphyry objects, more than half of which are previously unpublished.
Contents: Purple and porphyry = La porpora e il porfido / Dario Del Bufalo ; English translation by David Graham -- The quarries = Le cave / Dario Del Bufalo ; English translation by Lara Cox -- Passio SS. quattuor coronatorum auctore Porphyrio = Passion of the four crowned martyrs according to Porphyrius = Passione dei santi quattro coronati secondo Porfirio / English translation by David Graham -- Damnati ad metalla / Dario Del Bufalo ; English translation by Lara Cox -- Repertory of porphyry works / entries edited by Francesca Licordari, Arianna Pujia, Dario Del Bufalo ; English translation by Lara Cox -- Porphyry samples -- Italian texts / Dario Del Bufalo ; revised by Antonio Tropiano.