The sunny days of March on the vernal equinox symbolize the arrival of spring, the renewal of nature and the awakening of life after the winter sleep. And spring flowers are the messengers of the coming change of seasons.

The photo album with the images of spring flowers from the Museum Collection sections Glass Art  and Lapidary Art is posted in our Photo Gallery.

Since time immemorial, man has appreciated the eye-pleasing beauty of these marvellous creations of nature and, dreaming of preserving their elusive charm, has included flowers in the context of culture and art.
Flowers have always been associated with supreme power, they were considered a symbol of the power or will of gods and goddesses, served as an offering during religious rituals.

Flowers inspire artists, poets, architects, composers to create prominent art works. Flowers, bouquets, foliage ornaments were cast in bronze, plaster, glass, they were carved of wood, cut out of marble or precious stones.

Flowers are beauty that will not leave anyone indifferent. They animate light and vivid feelings, please the eye, heal the soul. Unfortunately, like many other beautiful natural phenomena, flowers are short-lived, their beauty quickly fades.

Flowers of any color and shape can also be carved from stone. For an artisan, it is “a matter of honour” to create a flower “as if it were alive” - with leaves, veins, and stamens. Danila from the famous Ural tale The Mistress of the Copper Mountain by Pavel Bazhov persisted in doing his work after the image of stramonium. Carl Faberge, one of the allegiant connoisseurs of Russian decorative stones, while creating a series of works “Single flowers in a vase”, placed “flowers” in transparent vases with “water” made from rock crystal.

If we are speaking about the contemporary lapidary art, we cannot pass up a cute German town of Idar-Oberstein. It appertains to the so-called German Gemstone Road, founded in 1974. Lapidary art is thought to have originated in this German city in 50 BC, when Julius Caesar visited this place. However, in 1609, the principals of the town decreed, “no foreigner can join lapidary art in Idar-Oberstein, and the skills should be passed on from generation to generation”. Therefore, it is officially accepted that lapidary art business that originated there, and grew rapidly in the early 17^th century.

For centuries, the town inhabitants’ primary occupation was mining, grinding and cutting precious and ornamental stones. Nowadays Idar-Oberstein is called “the city of jewels and jewellers".

Museum Collection exposition features the works of the prominent artisans – Paul Dreher, Manfred Wild, Luis Alberto Quispe Aparicio, Eberhard Bank, Carl Faberge, Emile Galle and others.