La collezione di marmi antichi del Museo di Mineralogia dell’Università di Pavia

A historic collection of polished squares of marbles has been analyzed for a awareness-raising project of the Mineralogical Museum, Pavia University. Seventy specimens were investigated for a petrographic classification and historical study. The collection setting refers to European fine art collections of the 19th century. The decorative stones were probably collected from Roman archaeological ruins and come from historical quarries of Greece, Turkey, Egypt and other localities of the Roman Empire. Rocks range from marbles to alabasters. Very little historical information is available: probably in the late 19th century the collection was given to the Mineralogical Museum but there is no written evidence of the original composition and number of marble samples. The aim of this work is to describe the marble collection, in order to plan a permanent exhibition for teaching purposes.