gems, beryl, emerald, jade, malachite

Today, green creeps into all parts of human activity. It has become obvious, the color of hope, the one that will save the world. But what about the first civilizations? History shows that the color green has unleashed passions as much as aroused rejection. But it is first of all a concept shared by a community of individuals within the same society, at a given time. This concept materializes in particular in the arts and it is this artistic production that the TreM.a-Musée des Arts anciens wanted to dissect through the prism of stones: emerald, the most feminine of them, but also others less prestigious such as malachite, jade, serpentine, peridot... Each of them challenged the know-how of artisan jewelers and jewelers, served power, helped to get in touch with the gods, enhanced the beauty of women. The exhibition invites you to discover these green stones and their uses from Prehistory to the present day. A walk through time and space with beauty and inventiveness as the only guides. These two qualities, universal and timeless, imply a careful choice of stones and a great mastery of techniques. They cannot be appreciated without knowing the geographical origin of the materials, their mineralogical presentation, the extraction methods... so many elements discussed in the rooms.