Famous Marble Sculptures

The great marbles of ancient Greece and Rome, the Renaissance, the Baroque and the age of Canova, ending with Rodin, photographed where they stand today in museums and churches in Rome, Florence, Naples, Paris and beyond. The photos run in rough order of when the works were made, so you can watch carvers learn to make stone behave like flesh, cloth and air. Each caption points to the detail that shows what the sculptor achieved: fingers sinking into a thigh, a veil that seems to lie over a face, wind pulling at drapery. Every piece is carved marble. Bronzes, modern outdoor public art and land art are left out, and Naples' small Sansevero Chapel earns three places because it holds three of the most astonishing feats of carving under one roof.