Souffleur, what is Lapis lazuli?

“From one kilogram of lapis lazuli, you could extract barely 20 to 30 grams of ultramarine. That made it extremely expensive – in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, it was even more costly than gold. As a result, it was reserved for images of saints and, in particular, for the Virgin Mary’s cloak. Synthetic variants became available from the 19th century onwards.”

“A room in Alicja Kwade’s exhibition at M is dedicated to this rare material. The walls are painted with pigment mixed with real lapis lazuli, and an enormous block of the stone is also on display. Kwade sees it as a time capsule that returns us to geological processes millions of years old. At the same time, she invites us to reflect on how we assign value to objects and materials such as precious stones. According to her, that value is not absolute but culturally determined.”