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<p><i><b><a href="presentazione.html" target="work">Palladio and Vicenza</a></b></i><br>
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<font SIZE="+3">Vicenza Stone</font></p>
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<p>Artistic and commercial collaboration with numerous "Botteghe artigiane della
pietra" (Stone Craft Shops) in Vicenza and the surrounding area has allowed us,
since 1930s, to offer a large range of sculptures for decoration of gardens and
for furnishing items. Our function has been that of an intermediary between the
"Botteghe della Pietra" (Stonework Shops) of the famous Scamozzi and Palladio
school and the needs of expert clients who recognise the high artistic and
commercial value of the works we offer.<br>
Our sculptures are the expression of a craft culture that has for centuries
taken ideas and suggestions from the innumerable works of art in Pietra di
Vicenza (Vicenza Stone), which embellish hundreds of Veneto villas built between
1500 and 1800. The products we offer are not mass produced, or similar to each
other.<br>
None are identical, as they are made individually with ancient techniques,
handed down from father to son.<br>
"Pietra di Vicenza" (Vicenza Stone) is a whitish limestone, with a straw-yellow
tinge due to minimum traces of clay.<br>
"Pietra di Vicenza" (Vicenza Stone) is found in quarries with a small quantity
of water. This ensures that the stone retains the minimum degree of hardness, so
that it can be easily cut with a wooden saw. When it is removed from its natural
environment, it loses its quarry water and harden substantially.<br>
"Pietra di Vicenza" (Vicenza Stone) is resistant to atmospheric conditions and
polluting substances in the air, and therefore can be used for outdoor works
without any problems.<br>
Over the past few years requests for works in "Pietra di Vicenza" (Vicenza
Stone) have once more become popular and it has also been specifically used to
satisfy the growing demand for interior decoration, i.e. fireplaces, balustrade,
statues, columns, busts, friezes, bases (capitals) for small and large tables,
worktops, etc. Art houses, antique dealers, architects and collectionists are
all extremely interested in the craftwork carried out in "Pietra di Vicenza"
(Vicenza Stone). </p>
<p ALIGN="JUSTIFY">Soft stones like "<b>S. Gottardo</b>" and "<b>San Germano</b>"
are quarried in the mining area of the Colli Berici near Vicenza. These fairly
well-known stones have been used by innumerable artists and architects througout
the centuries. The most famous of all was Palladio (XVI century), who used it
extensively in building his monumental palaces and Veneto Villas.<br>
The Colli Berici hills are composed of Secondary and Tertiary formations. The
former is meagerly represented by more recent layers from the cretaceous period,
while the latter, especially the Eocene and Oligocene formations, are a great
deal more extensive.<br>
The <b>Pietra di San Gottardo</b> is a whitish limestone tending to straw-
yellow due to minimal traces of clay, attributable to the Oligocene Era. This is
a pure biospartic limestone, rich in micro- and macro-foraminifers with algae,
bryozoan, and echnoid remains distributed in a uniform manner. Its grain is
heterogeneous and consists of a fairly fine carbonate matrix incorporating more
or less plentiful and coarse fossile remains. When the rock is newly quarried it
is slightly water-logged, making it softer and easier to work and thus suitable
for sculpturing purposes. With time the stone loses its water, hardening and
becoming more resistant to decay.</p>
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<img SRC="../san_gottardo.jpg" ALT="San Gottardo stone" BORDER="0" width="188" height="188"><br>
<b>San Gottardo</b></p>
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<img SRC="../san_germano.jpg" ALT="San Germano - yellow stone" BORDER="0" width="188" height="188"><br>
<b>Pietra Gialla (Yellow Stone) <br>
San Germano</b></p>
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The <b>Pietra Dorata</b> (or yellow stone) is a biomicrite rich in foraminifers
and is heterogenous in its structure and composition. It has a pelitic component
in its insoluble residue consisting primarily of montmorillonoids and
K-feldspar, from which it takes its yellow pigment. </p>
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<img SRC="../san_gottfiorito.jpg" ALT="San Gottardo Fiorito - blooming stone" BORDER="0" width="134" height="136"><br>
<b>San Gottardo Fiorito</b></p>
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<img SRC="../san_gottantic.jpg" ALT="San Gottardo Antichizzato - aged stone" BORDER="0" width="140" height="137"><br>
<b>San Gottardo Antichizzato</b></p>
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<img SRC="../san_gottfiorant.jpg" ALT="San Gottardo stone - aged and blooming" BORDER="0" width="133" height="138"><br>
<b>San Gottardo Fiorito Antichizzato</b></p>
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<img SRC="../subtitile03.gif" ALT="Vicenza Stone - Rossato Giovanni Srl" BORDER="0" usemap="#mail" width="386" height="76"></p>
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