The more expensive one is usually the type of marble that's exported. Last year, 1.2 million tons of blocks crossed the Italian border to China, the United States, and Germany as the top 3.

Several centuries after the Italian Renaissance, marble remains a staple material for artists. In the image aboove, students at Carrara's Academy of Fine Arts first hone their sculpting skills on ...

Parchin kari, or pietra dura in Italian, is the art of marble inlay, which involves carving out marble slabs and inserting precious and semiprecious stones to create elaborate floral and geometric ...