Marble is a common material used to make sculptures, but not just because it's a beautiful stone. What properties of marble make it useful for this purpose?
Marble is really resistant to shattering. Compared to the next best alternative stone, which is limestone, marble possess a much finer grain which makes it much easier for the sculptor to add more detail.
Marble of extremely high purity with a bright white color is very useful in producing a white powder that is used as a pigment, brightener, and filler in paint, paper and other products.
Marble is a translucent stone that allows light to enter and produce a soft "glow."
Because marble is composed of calcite, it cleaves more readily than limestone and does not have the strength, soundness, and abrasion resistance of granite and other more competent rocks.
Being composed of calcite, marble has a hardness of three on the Mohs hardness scale. As a result, marble is easy to carve, and that makes it useful for producing sculptures and ornamental objects.
After being sanded with progressively finer abrasives, marble can be polished to a high luster.
The translucence of marble makes it especially attractive for many types of sculptures
