Sculpteurs-marbriers en Provence

The marble quarry in Trets, in the heart of Provence, has the distinction of being operated by just one family: the Veyriers. Throughout the seventeenth century this dynasty of sculptors and architects worked from Marseille to Genoa for almost a century. Predominantly red-veined yellow ornamental marble—locally known as “variegated marble of the country”, which they mined and worked for only a short time (around only fifty years)—was used to decorate the Château de Versailles and other royal residences, the Château de Sceaux and certain monuments where the Veyriers worked, including the parish church in Trets, the Saint-Maximin basilica, the cathedrals of Toulon and of Aix-en-Provence. With original colours and able to be well shined, it was the most expensive among those that were sold at Marseille’s new town dock. Through the history of the Trets quarry, through the blocks, we discover that of Christophe Veyrier, student of the famous Pierre Puget