Stone of the Elite
Egyptian Imperial Porphyry is the stone of the ancient Roman elite. Everything from the sarcophagi of old Emperors to their bathtubs were made of a purple mineral from a sole source in Egypt. That source is now exhausted. So anything made from it is considered priceless.
The colors of the Emperors was Purple. The mineral mimicked their clothes as closely as possible, and it’s rarity made it impossible for anyone else to get. One of its properties is that it is difficult to work with. It’s very hard to carve.
Nero’s Basin, or Bathtub. People indicate scale.
The most notorious piece of porphyry at the Vatican Museum has got to be The Emperor Nero’s Basin. I think back to the days of Nero and some of the events that took place in and around this piece.
Porphyry at the Borghese Museum
It is amazing and indicative of how much the Roman Empire lavished their emperor to take a heavy, difficult to work with material all the way from Egypt and bring it to Rome to use as a luxury for the Emperor.