Masutti NAtural Stones: The History & The Project

The Parthenon, the Colosseum, the Pyramids of Chefren, the Vatican Pietà, the Pantheon, Donatello’s David, the Venus de Milo, Stonehenge, Notre Dame de Paris, the Empire State Building… An infinite list, millenary works of  inestimable artistic value and undoubted visual charm: unique and unrepeatable effect of natural stone. Natural stone has always played a fundamental role in human life, and it has been used in many areas, but in particular in architecture and sculpture. Natural stone, thanks to its characteristics of strength, compactness and durability, has the charm of existing for millions of years. The processing of the stones is believed to have started about 1.5 million years ago; the oldest evidence dates back to the Palaeolithic period and concerns weapons obtained by chipping flint nodules. With the Neolithic, the creation of  stone objects becomes more elaborate and from chipping they move to dressing. With the appearance of the first real quarries (5th millennium BC) linked to the quarrying of stones to be used for building, man begins to erect the first  monuments, intended for the cult of the dead. The first rudimentary statues and the first valuable monumental works date back to the Copper Age and the following Bronze Age. Man becomes more and more expert in the quarrying and processing of stones, but above all competent in terms of variety, type and characteristics. From the Egyptians, to the Ancient Greeks and to the Romans, the whole ancient world uses natural stone to create works of undoubted magnificence which are even today a precious testimony of a “timeless” material. Natural stone also crosses the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the modern age, up to the contemporary one, where it remains one of the few “constant” elements in human life since its appearance on Earth. These brief historical notes want to underline how the quarrying and processing of the stone activities have marked our civil and artistic growth in the past centuries and they will also accompany us in those to come. In a world where monotony is rampant, peculiarity is rare, everything is frenetic, everything – or almost – flows without leaving any trace of itself, the natural stone proves to be eternal, “immortal”, unique and always original. Everyone can find in the stone that touch of personality that no other material can give, because natural stone is incomparable for the range of colours, patterns, veins and perennial beauty. Italy has been a world producer of ornamental stones since Roman times and a custodian of decidedly unsurpassed professional traditions in the sector. So let’s not forget the tradition but let’s be proud of it!

My company’s motto today reads “Craftsmen of Innovation”. Well, with the launch of my new project, the slogan will now continue with these precise words “Transformers of Tradition”. Because tradition must not be forgotten, far from it! It must be enriched, filled with today’s knowledge. We at Masutti, custodians of a century-old knowledge in the stone sector, do not want to forget the origins, the primordial materials, the natural stones precisely, because they are not only universal historical heritage, they are culture, they are the soul of our past, they are tradition and tradition must be nourished to stay alive, to become the soul of our future. I wanted to insert my writing after giving the right historical hints to emphasize our return to the past, projected into the future. Yes, because you cannot cling to the memory of ancient times without bringing the right dose of innovation. Masutti has the experience, professionalism and abilities to offer all this! I firmly believe in the elegance, nobility, uniqueness of these materials. The “expressive abilities” of these raw materials are incomparable: the varieties, the colours, the veins of the natural stone are innumerable and the processes make it unrepeatable. And do not underestimate the fact that they are obviously eco-friendly. A work in natural stone can never be the same as another. Using natural stone is therefore not the same as using any other material, it never remains anonymous! For all these reasons, I wanted to create our own line of natural stones. The Natural Stones Masutti line was born from my absolute determination to offer customers raw materials, intended for the creation of kitchen tops and furnishing accessories, of excellent quality and high performance; a “wink” towards the past, therefore, but which can be made according to cutting-edge methods. Choosing a Masutti Natural Stones top means aiming for a material of undoubted quality and beauty. You will enjoy a versatile and at the same time chic, everlasting and always fashionable furnishing surface. Seeing is believing… like me! Diego Pol

Diego Pol