Since ancient times, the Egyptians, the Greeks, but above all the Romans, have developed a refined use of natural stones for the most varied purposes: buildings, roads, statuary, architectural ornaments, floor and wall coverings, sarcophagi, and funerary steles. The use of particularly beautiful and polychrome stones for purely decorative purposes, or with significant symbolic value, reached its peak during the Roman Empire, a period in which beautiful lithotypes from all over the Mediterranean provinces were systematically quarried and used in large quantities, often also reused in later times, and still offered on the market today. The museum is particularly proud to host one of the best-known and most complete existing collections of Roman decorative stones: the collection of Prof. Lorenzo Lazzarini, who has devoted many years to identifying lithotypes and searching for the original quarries. These splendid lithotypes, once identified in the monuments, allow us to understand the extent of mining and commercial activities in the different historical periods, to rediscover the ancient taste for decorative architecture, and to explore the symbolic value of some precious stones, such as ancient red porphyry, which were exclusive to emperors for centuries.
