Marbling, the art of creating convincingly realistic marble patterns with brushes and colour, has a long history since in nearly every culture, marble was considered to be the most prestigious material and was used in a great number of ways.

As well as numerous marble types, other attractive stone types were imitated. Marble makes its first appearance in the pompeian culture. Even today, the mysterious sheen, transparancy and the optical sensation of depth which marble displays in baroque works of art hold great fascination.

Good workmanship and practice are the prerequisites for an imitation. Of great importance is precise knowledge of the marble's structure with its separate sediment layers, its veining, striations and fissuring. In the course of art history, marble types became stylized, being represented in simplified or naturalistic form.

The artist must first understand the marble intellectually before he can begin to apply all his senses in recreating and bringing it to life. After all, free interpretation is the apogee of a (skilful) marbling.
There are no limits to the possible areas of application. Sub-portions of wall areas may be refined and columns may be finished using marbling. Furniture is lent an exclusive ambience. Wall-panels and mirror-frames are transformed into valuable pieces. Imagination is given free reign.

Through a lengthy study of marble types and application in numerous projects, dekora has gained comprehensive knowledge and experience in this area of artistry.

Video: "Hour of Birth from a painted marble"
( für Quick Time/ Mac 6MB )

Detail of Hotel Bischofshof, Regensburg (sketch)