ZanonGallery By FACI

Giovanni Zanon Story  in Inglese .. segue

Bernini’s brilliant four rivers fountain inle, thein

Piazza Navona is made from natural travertine.

Polished the stone produces a very different effect.

The Zanons have a workshop in Tivoli crammed with at least 50 different

marbles in every colour under the sun and from all over the world.

They possess rare and antique marbles acquired over decades that are

almost impossible to come by nowadays such as Breccia  Verde from Egypt.

When archaeologists discovered what appeared to be the remains

of Cleopatra’s palace under the sea in the port of Alexandria in

the 90’s, Breccia Verde was one of the predominant marbles found there.

Porphyry is another rarity in their collection, the deep purple stone

much prized by imperial Rome. It was discovered on an isolated site in

Egypt in 18 AD and quarried continuously between AD 29 and 335, with

large quantities being shipped over to Italy.

Somehow the quarry was

lost for over 1500 years and only rediscovered by British explorers

James Burton and Sir John Gardner Wilkinson in 1823.

Giovanni, along with Rosanna his wife and business partner, who speaks

Arabic, French and English, have taken their furniture all over the world

from New York to Tokyo, London to Paris.

 A round inlaid table on a central

roman column base was purchased to be given as a gift to George Bush,

its twin sold in London for a whopping £50,000.