Some time ago, we talked about marble that is not exactly marble and about granite that is not really granite.
Donatello belongs to this category, as it cannot be easily identified and qualified, it doesn’t correspond to the usual merchant class.
On the one hand, this material is hard as granite and shows extreme strength when cut, on the other hand, there is the typical transparency of marble.
Characteristics and origin of Donatello
A geologist would probably claim that Donatello is a breccia-like dolomite, especially since one can see the typical ‘crystal twins’ of dolomites under the microscope.
Donatello comes from a huge material mine, meaning Brazil.
Try to imagine a cliff that suddenly breaks into small and large rocks, which combine over millions of years, undergoing enormous physical and chemical changes, until they reach their present appearance.
Donatello shows a cloudy background with various shades of grey, ranging from pearl grey to London smoke grey.
Several veins run through the material, recalling spirals of steam or smoke clouds escaping from a magician’s cauldron.
Bright dots, which can be seen more clearly when the quartz nodules are centimetre-seized, complete the overall picture.
However, the whole movement seems to be frozen by magic and shows us a millions of years old snapshot of extraordinary beauty and extreme elegance.
How to emphasize the majesty of Donatello?
Surface treatments emphasize its beauty and elegance.
Honed or even better, satin-finished surfaces intensify the movement in the texture and create a certain three-dimensionality.
Polishing deserves attention, too: a polished surface makes Donatello shine, as its transparency dominates, and the patterns and colour shades are emphasized.
Since Donatello is similar to marble, a polished surface is acid labile despite the material’s hardness.
Nevertheless, Donatello is suitable for floor covering as well as panelling, for table tops and for kitchens and bathrooms.
We can supply large slab sizes and big quantities of this material.
Check Donatello in our materials catalogue.