Rock crystal has fascinated every civilisation since time immemorial for its mysterious translucence. From 26 September 2023 to 14 January 2024, the Musée de Cluny – Musée National du Moyen Âge will be taking visitors on a journey through the history of crystal from the present day to the Middle Ages and beyond.
During medieval times in particular, this colourless quartz was a much coveted material for making tableware and other precious items such as decorative objects and jewellery. Due to the rock’s purity, crystal has also been endowed with powerful symbolic meaning expressed through the production of liturgical pieces and reliquaries.
Curated in six acts, the exhibition “Voyage dans le cristal” explores every facet of this enigmatic material whose mystery is slowly revealed through the sequence of displays. To start proceedings, visitors are introduced to quartz and its geological properties, notably through models produced by one of the modern creators of crystallography, Jean-Baptiste Louis Romé de l’Isle. Next, with exhibits that are chronological and arranged by theme, visitors get to discover the many and varied ways humankind has made use of rock crystal through the ages. The exhibition presents over 200 pieces, almost half of which date from the Middle Ages, including objects with spiritual or magical powers, such as reliquaries in which the crystal serves as a magnifying lens; objects for kings, like a sceptre on loan from the British Museum; luxury and ornamental pieces, for example a ewer from the Louvre; and scientific instruments such as the mystifying Visby lenses. It guides visitors through to the modern day and concludes on the museum’s first floor with an installation by artist Patrick Neu, specially commissioned for the event, which will interact with loaned ancient and contemporary objects made of rock crystal.
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Photo: Reliquary chest. Circa 1200, Northern France (?). Cut rock crystal
Paris, Musée de Cluny - Musée national du Moyen Âge
(c) RMN-Grand Palais (Musée de Cluny - musée national du Moyen Âge) / Michel Urtado