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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;hotwheelsearl, post: 4378083, member: 75143&quot;]Imperial Porphyry is a special sort of granite-like stone that is deep purple in color. It is found ONLY in ONE specific quarry somewhere in Egypt. Porphyry is Greek for &quot;purple,&quot; and is associated with royal purple. </p><p><br /></p><p>There are various types of porphyry that aren&#039;t as valuable: red and green come to mind. Napoleon&#039;s sarcophagus is made of red porphyry, which is expensive but not incredibly expensive like the imperial variety.</p><p><br /></p><p>In the glory days of Rome, it was hard to truly put a price on porphyry. Some sources say it was worth more than its weight in gold. But, the real benefit of the stuff was that, beyond wearing imperial regalia or being rich, it showed that you TRULY had control - enough control to direct the quarrying and importation of a special Egyptian stone.</p><p><br /></p><p>Over the years, the technology and knowledge to carve porphyry declined, and then was lost altogether. </p><p>We can see the decline illustrated here:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1104251[/ATTACH] </p><p>4th century porphyry Apollo Citharoedus. Heavily restored in 18th century.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1104252[/ATTACH] </p><p>1st AD &quot;Nero&#039;s Bathtub.&quot; This is the largest single piece of imperial porphyry in existence, and is said to be worth up to <b>2 BILLION USD</b>.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1104253[/ATTACH] </p><p>4th AD &quot;Tetrarchs.&quot; Formerly mounted on columns in the Philadelphion, now in a corner wall of St. Mark&#039;s Cathedral in Venice, along with some spoliated Roman architectural decoration.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>The Tetrarchs were probably among the last large-scale porphyry statues ever produced. The fine detail and execution of the earlier pieces was impossible, and the quality declined steadily. </p><p><br /></p><p>After the fall of the Western empire, the only porphyry that was at all attainable was only the existing stock - imperial statues and busts, columns, and architectural decoration. Many of these items were used as &quot;spolia&quot; and inserted into walls, floors, pretty much anywhere they could be placed. By medieval times, the technology had declined so dramatically that they couldn&#039;t even recarve old statues - they resorted to sawing columns into small slices that could be used to decorate floors and walls.</p><p><br /></p><p>A sad (possibly anecdotal) story is that the last Byzantine Emperor, Constantine XI, was crowned standing on a tiny, 1-2 foot square piece of imperial porphyry. The idea was that by standing on that piece of stone, somehow the glory and magic of the Old Rome could channel into this last emperor of the New Rome.</p><p><br /></p><p>By the 18th century, the technology to effectively carve porphyry was rediscovered. This was good and bad. The good was that the tech came back. The bad was that countless ancient Roman statues were mutilated and recarved into more modern styles. Remember - the quarry location was lost so the ONLY source of porphyry was already-extant statuary.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1104254[/ATTACH] </p><p>18th AD bust of a Medici. Marble torso and porphyry head, recarved from ancient.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>In addition, the quarry location was also lost to time until only very recently - now the entire mountain is a protected area. In other words, there is NO more imperial porphyry being produced now. So you can basically never get your hands on any porphyry ever again.</p><p><br /></p><p>2000 years ago, as now, Imperial Porphyry was a substance with a value that transcended simple monetary worth - it was a true expression of power and wealth.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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