It is the meeting of stone and water that creates much of the magic of Venice, the solidity and permanence of the former and the evanescent fragility of the latter. What these elements have done, however, is to wear away surfaces, making the simplest brick wall an object of contemplation and giving a special patina to the expensive marbles used from a staircase to a masterpiece of sculpture.
Following the Byzantine tradition, multicolored pieces of marble and semiprecious stone covered the floors of a religious building in a magic mosaic. During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, multicolored marble tombs climbed up the walls of the city's churches and great artists made magnificent stone statues in all sizes for church and state as well as for the great patrician families.
This beautiful, specially photographed all color book on Venice is a thesis on the texture, color, shape and endless uses of stone in the hands of sensitive artists and a source of inspiration for designers and craftsmen in all areas.
