
Lapis Lazzuli: Magia del Blu
June 9 – October 11, 2015
Museo degli Argenti – Palazzo Pitti, Florence
Since antiquity, lapis lazuli has historically been a highly regarded rare and regal semi-precious stone imported from Asia and utilized for it’s beautiful blue hue in art objects (jewelry, carvings, boxes, mosaics, ornaments, vases) and for paint pigments (ultramarine blue). This exhibition at the Museo degli Argenti in Florence’s Palazzo Pitti includes fine examples of art and objects from throughout the centuries to contemporary jewelry. Here are some of the highlights and an introduction from the exhibition:








From Oltramarine to Klein Blue

Oltramarine blue was extolled as a “noble color, beauteous, perfect beyond all colors” by Cennino Cennini in his Libro dell’Arte, the most important treatise on artistic techniques of the late Middle Ages. The pigment is obtained from lapis lazuli through a long, complex refining process, whose steps are described by Cennino Cennini. It was used with different gradations on both parchment manuscripts, that in painting on wood, on fresco and painting, starting from the Middle Ages until the 19th century. The name “ultramarine” evokes the distant Asian origins of lapis lazuli, the pigment’s crucial ingredient and the reason for its quality, rarity and expense. Indeed, the inevitable high cost of the ultramarine pigment renders it a prerogative of the most exclusive oral clients. In the 19th century, ultramarine blue, which had become increasingly rare, was replaced by an artificial pigment that required no lapis lazuli, developed by Jean Baptiste Guimet. In the 20th century, renowned French artist Yves Klein dedicated much of his energy to the search for a new blue pigment, which was eventually patented and named after him. (Source: Museo degli Argenti, Palazzo Pitti)
Which brings us to the part of the exhibition where lapis lazuli is used in contemporary jewelry.



Tickets: includes entrance to the Boboli Garden, Porcelain Museum, Costume Museum, Bardini Gardens, and Silver Museum: €10 / €5 reduced
Hours: June, July, August 8:15am-6:50pm
September-October 8:15-6:30pm
Closed the first and last Monday of the month