del colle says his process is similar. so we're going to see a replica of this statue emerge from this block of marble. >> ( translated ): that statue over there is trapped inside this block. all we have to do is remove the extra marble. that's how sculpture works. you can take stuff away, but you can't put it back. this type of marble is the top of the line for sculpture. it has a very fine grain, and its very own particular transparencygives it warmth and makes the statue softer in appearance, more human. >> reporter: today, that softero humah has made it a hot commodity in modern construction around the world, from colossal buddhas and temples to luxury hotels and hd bathrooms. roughly one llion tons of it are quarried every year at the source in rrara, a couple- urs drive northwest of florence. deep inside the guts of the apuan alps, you'll find cathedrals of a different making: wall-to-wall, a floor- to-ceiling, solid carrara marble. what once took an army of oxen and brute force in the renaissance is now done with bu