Colour, threshold, stone, faux marble, form, walls, aesthetics, complexity: some of the key words for understanding the world of stone at the Galleria Borghese, one of Rome's best-known museums, home to works by Canova, Bernini, Caravaggio and Raphael among others. While the masterpieces on display are universally famous, the villa's strong ‘marble’ character is less well known. The book presents an investigation into the ‘architectural skin’ of the building, through the joint work of photographer Domenico Ventura and art historian and museum curator Geraldine Leardi. The result is a slow, progressively deeper immersion into the laws governing the aesthetic design of the Galleria's surfaces, an exploration of the chromatic articulation and materials that, starting from marble and stone, is enriched by other supports and techniques such as mural painting, mosaic and stucco.