These items feel fancy, but their unmistakable resemblance to Italian cured meats adds a ... And although adding red-marble countertops to your bathroom or kitchen may be prohibitively expensive ...

In 1517, Michelangelo climbed Mount Altissimo in Tuscany and found the marble of his dreams. It was, the Renaissance master wrote, "of compact grain, homogeneous, crystalline, reminiscent of sugar.