Abstract
The carbonate stones that make up the four fountains of the 18th century located in the Paseo del Prado of Madrid (Spain) are studied. The documentary search in historical archives, together with the petrographic, cartographic and paleontological studies permitted to determine that the fountains have been built with dolostone of the Castrojimeno Formation, with gastropods of the Trochactaeon Lamarcki specie of the Santonian (Upper Cretaceous). The historical quarries from which the ashlars have been extracted is located in Reduena Village. The petrophysical properties of this dolostone (effective porosity, bulk density, mercury intrusion porosity, ultrasound wave propagation velocity, micro-roughness and color) have been calculated and compared with Colmenar de Oreja limestone. Each of the four fountains has a circular pylon at the base, a central column that holds a smaller pylon and is topped by a sculpture that serves as a spout. A bomb destroyed three ashlars of the basal pylon, column, small pylon and the sculpture of the SE fountain, during the Spanish Civil War, in 1936. These damaged elements were replaced by other carved limestones from Colmenar de Oreja in 1944. The four sculptures had been replaced in 1996 with resin replicas and the originals are preserved in the San Isidro. Los origenes de Madrid museum. The study of the petrophysical properties of the sculptures located in the museum allowed us to determine the decay of different stone types. The analysis of micro-roughness was employed to define that the dissolution effect on the sculptures is different between dolostone and limestone. Reduena dolostone is more resistant to dissolution effect than Colmenar de Oreja limestome.
Highlights
Carbonaceous stones have been used in the carving of sculptures throughout history [1], the passage of time makes it sometimes unable to know the type of stone used in monuments
Located in one of the most touristic areas of Madrid, it has been one of the most beautiful landmarks of the urban project of the Paseo del Prado for more than two centuries, promoted by King Carlos III in the 18th century that consists of a landscaped zone and sculptural sets like the four fountains besides the fountain of Cibeles, Neptune and Apollo and buildings dedicated to the culture and the scientific popularization as the Prado museum
Due to difficulties in financing of Carrara marble for the fountains, Ventura Rodríguez proposed the use of Redueña dolostone (Figure 2), a village located approximately 50 km North of Madrid, which would reduce costs and speed up works
Summary
Carbonaceous stones have been used in the carving of sculptures throughout history [1], the passage of time makes it sometimes unable to know the type of stone used in monuments. In order to locate the original quarries of the stones used in the monuments an exhaustive documentary search must be done, accompanied by a cartography and fieldwork. Two of the fountains are on the sidewalk of the Prado museum and the other two are situated in the opposite, in the pedestrian median of the Paseo del Prado (Figure 1). Located in one of the most touristic areas of Madrid, it has been one of the most beautiful landmarks of the urban project of the Paseo del Prado for more than two centuries, promoted by King Carlos III in the 18th century that consists of a landscaped zone and sculptural sets like the four fountains besides the fountain of Cibeles, Neptune and Apollo and buildings dedicated to the culture and the scientific popularization as the Prado museum
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