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Abstract: STONE CUTTERS IN NINETEENTH CENTURY ROME: FROM CORPORATIONS TO PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS During the 19th century, working marble was one of the main artisanal activities in Rome. As such, it was influenced by the long series of political and economic upheavals which shook the city, especially during the latter half of the century. However, shortly before the Italian Unification, the corporative structure of this sector was still quite compact. The stoneworker’s guild, as well as the confraternity, were still strong as it had secretly survived during the period between its abrogation by Pious VII and its reconstitution by Pious IX in 1852. Although these organizers were weak and had no real political weight, they represented the only real structure in the Roman entrepreneurial marble works. Shortly thereafter, the definitive abolition of corporations (1870) and the subsequent dissolution of confraternities (1890) lead to the inevitable absorption of the new capital into the national economic framework. In particular, many attempts were made to reorganize the productive sectors that depended on public customers. The consequences were that the same mechanism for the procurement of work orders underwent substantial modifications which were the cause of unrest and trouble. On the other hand, the changes were taking effect very rapidly. At the same time, massive marble supplies began arriving from Northern Italy and large work projects were commissioned to the new capitalistic building groups. During this period, many small shops also began to open up. Soon, a cooperative of marble workers was formed. Nonetheless, the traditional unity between workers and art masters began to crumble, while that of the new rich entrepreneurial class was growing more compact.