Paonazzo is the Italian word for peacock — the colour, not the bird — and Viola Antico Paonazzo lives up to it. The slab reads as a brecciated mosaic: ivory and cream clasts edged in pink and salmon, suspended in a dense web of ink-black serpentine and graphite veining. It is one of the most visually theatrical marbles in current production, in direct conversation with the Renaissance Paonazzetti of the Vatican and Medici collections.

Polished is the right finish for this stone — and the only finish that allows the noir veining to do its work. The black web turns reflective and architectural; the rose clasts saturate; the ivory ground gains depth. Use it where it can be the singular gesture in a room: a fireplace surround, a single floating vanity, a wall behind a stair, or a bookmatched dining table. Not a stone to repeat — a stone to anchor.

On the floor in 66" × 124" jumbo, 2cm polished. One slab from the block.