Marble has been the preferred material for stone monumental sculpture since ancient times, with several advantages over its more common geological "parent" limestone, in particular the ability to absorb light a small distance into the surface before refracting it in subsurface scattering. This gives an attractive soft appearance that is especially good for representing human skin, which can also be polished.
Marble sculpture
Lorenzo Bartolini, (Italian, 1777–1850), La Table aux Amours (The Demidoff Table), Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, Marble sculpture
Thomas Ridgeway Gould. The West Wind. (profile) 1876.
Comedy by Victor-Edmond Leharivel-Durocher
Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2)) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions.
Carrara marble quarry in Italy
The Marble Boat, a lakeside pavilion in the Summer Palace in Beijing, China
The Taj Mahal is clad entirely in marble
Folded and weathered marble at General Carrera Lake, Chile