Jewels and gems in the painting collection

Join the gemmologist Rui Galopim de Carvalho on a themed tour of the painting collection of the Gulbenkian Museum. What do the pearls, rubies, diamonds and ornaments worn by the figures of art history have to tell us? Focusing on the details of the jewellery and precious stones that adorn sacred and secular figures alike, this journey reveals how gems were depicted from the Middle Ages to Impressionism, exploiting the scope for detail that oil paint opened up. The contribution of mineralogy to painting, through certain pigments, will also be discussed. A singular perspective in which the art of painting meets the earth sciences, with precious stones in the spotlight.