A sparkling exhibition to rediscover crystal at the Musée de Cluny in Paris

Marie Gicquel / Photo credit: RIEGER Bertrand / hemis.fr / hemis.fr / Hemis via AFP 10:52 a.m., November 04, 2023

A sparkling exhibition dedicated to crystal at the Musée de Cluny in Paris, in partnership with Europe 1. Whether in glasses, vases, objects of all kinds, from Baccarat to Saint-Louis, this unique and magical material has even established itself in pop culture.

Indiana Jones would no doubt have been very jealous since he is there, locked in a glass case, with his deep eyes and his toothy smile out, ready to catch us: the crystal skull has fascinated more than one, as Isabelle Bardiès, curator at the Musée de Cluny, recounts. "Everyone saw it, the great artists like Picasso, and everyone thought it was an Aztec skull. Actually, no, it's a 19th-century skull. It was thanks to the analysis of the tool traces that we found out. So we invented a false archaeological past for this object, which is nevertheless absolutely magnificent and a source of inspiration, especially for one of the episodes of the Indiana Jones adventures," smiles the curator.

Spiritual Values

From the crystal ball with its divinatory powers, to the crystals of witches, crystal, far from being a luxury material, has nothing to envy to diamonds. "It's not that valuable, because it's everywhere. He is endowed with immense spiritual values. For example, among shamans, it's the memory sensor. Spiritual values that diamonds don't have," says Isabelle Bardiès.

>> ALSO READ – Zidane in the spotlight of a 100% immersive exhibition at the Philharmonie de Paris

A sparkling exhibition with a subdued, mystical atmosphere to discover jewels, reliquaries and crystal sculptures. Enough to attract a lot of adventurous archaeologists. "Journey into the Crystal" is on view until January 14 at the Musée de Cluny in Paris.