Brilliant Europe

Jewellery plays a symbolic role of primordial importance. In European courts, where various dynasties have constantly woven connections among themselves throughout the centuries, jewels were marks of prestige, wealth or power. The strict rules, which governed their wearing bear witness to the sophistication of these codes, from Portugal to Sweden, from the United Kingdom to the heart of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. No-one who did own crown jewels could possibly sit on the throne.

Glittering Europe illustrates more than 800 years of the history of jewellery in Europe. The 200 selected works of art and pieces of jewellery are distinguished above all by their exceptionally high quality, but also by the significance attributed to them in the social and cultural history of Europe. A large number of them in fact belonged to people who played major roles in forging the history of our continent or in developing its thought.