Life and Myth in Carved Gemstone Exhibition

Animals, human figures, flowers, fruits and sweets - all delicately carved from gems such as tourmaline, ruby emeralds and sapphires - are part of a new exhibition at the Harry Oppenheimer Diamond Museum in Ramat Gan.

“And thou shalt breathe life into a gem,” is an exhibition of jewelry, cameos and artifacts carved from gemstones by master carvers in Idar-Oberstein, Germany and is the result of cooperation with the Deutsche Edelsteinmuseum.

The exhibition features jewelry and artifacts reflecting traditions going back hundreds of years, passed down from father to son. The works take advantage of the variations in color in a gemstone to create life-like images with sticking presence depicting people in action as well as biblical and Greek mythology characters.

This is the first time that this exhibition is being shown outside of Germany, said Dr. Dieter Hahn, chairman of the Idar-Oberstein museum and Treasurer-General of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB).

Yehuda Kassif, artistic director and curator of the Ramat Gan museum, said that he wanted to bring the artistic creations and the heritage of the carvers of Idar-Oberstein to the Israeli public. “These master craftsmen, thanks to their artistry, have succeeded in using the colors and textures and even the imperfections of the gemstones to create objects that come alive with warmth and spirit.”

The exhibition will be open until the end of December 2010.