Known under a few names, such as: scenic stone, pictorial stones, pietra paesina, marble ruiniforme, lithographic limestone, and stone Florence (there may be others too), these stones presented here were highly prized in early modern Europe and, before that, Asia, because of the beautiful naturally created organic landscapes.

Over millions of years the natural process of water penetrating and seeping into stones, bringing with it solutions of iron and magnesium, along with other elements, leaves traces of color and forms within the stone. This, along with cracks created from pressure and channels of water, combine their lines to push up imagery of mountains and trees, creating landscapes of unmeasurable beauty.

The finding-locations for this material are spread over the Tuscany.

a very detailed presentation about this material in german : http://www.landschaftsmarmor.de

A very similar pattern is shown by a jasper from the Owyhee-County.