{"id":2835,"date":"2026-08-10T09:24:38","date_gmt":"2026-08-10T07:24:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.minesparis.psl.eu\/musee\/?page_id=2835"},"modified":"2026-08-19T16:21:56","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T14:21:56","slug":"the-cabinet-of-curiosities","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.minesparis.psl.eu\/musee\/en\/the-museum\/collections-eng\/the-cabinet-of-curiosities\/","title":{"rendered":"The Cabinet of Curiosities"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Collectionism and historical objects<\/h2>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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Fossils<\/h5>\n

A fossil represents the trace, more or less mineralized, of an ancient living organism or its past activity (e.g., footprints, burrows), preserved in sedimentary rock. It can be a cast (internal or external) of the organism, or even entire parts or simple fragments of the animal (e.g., teeth) or plant (e.g., a leaf).<\/p>\n

The fossils displayed in the Museum are the survivors of a larger collection assembled during the 19th century. These specimens, sometimes of remarkable size, mostly left the Museum’s collections in the 1970s to join the reserves of the National Museum of Natural History in Paris and the Mus\u00e9e des Confluences in Lyon, where they remain today.<\/p>\n

Formerly, an entire floor was dedicated to them within the \u00c9cole des Mines, directly above the Mineralogy Museum. These spaces have now been converted into offices and meeting rooms. A small portion of the collections remained at the school and were integrated into two display cases in the Museum, which you can see in Room G. To showcase the fossil collection still held at the School, a room adjoining the museum was set up to house some of the specimens. Several thousand specimens are still preserved in the School’s collections.<\/p>\n

During special events such as the European Heritage Days or the European Night of Museums, you can see the remaining fossils from the collection in this room (now used as a meeting and classroom).<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Fossilized Lamna Elegans shark teeth, from the historical fossil collection of the Paris School of Mines. \u00a9 Mines Paris – PSL \/ E. Gaillou.<\/em><\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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Portrait of Ren\u00e9 Just-Ha\u00fcy by Nicolas Gosse (1787-1878), 1843, oil on canvas. \u00a9 Mus\u00e9e de Min\u00e9ralogie Mines Paris – PSL.<\/em><\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Paintings and Artwork<\/h3>\n

Upon arrival at the Museum, you are immediately immersed in exceptional geological landscapes: canvases depicting major geological sites overlook the Museum’s grand staircase and accompany you to the entrance.<\/p>\n

Painted by the artist Hugard de la Tour, these works were commissioned by the School of Mines in 1842.<\/p>\n

You can also admire large allegorical representations of science and its scientists, painted by Abel de Pujol between 1852 and 1856.<\/p>\n

Throughout the Museum’s galleries, you will also find portraits of prominent scientists who worked at the Museum or who played a crucial role in the fields of Mineralogy and Geology.<\/p>\n

For more information and to help you plan your visit, you can download the guide de visites PEINTURES (in French only) :<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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Pigments<\/h3>\n

A pigment is a substance, usually in fine powder form, used in art or construction for its decorative or protective properties. Several types of pigments exist, including inorganic pigments created from minerals.<\/p>\n

Components of many ancient and medieval frescoes and paintings, pigments have long been extracted from minerals, particularly for coloring or protecting paintings. This sometimes had harmful effects, especially on the health of painters: when ingested in volatile form, some minerals are detrimental to health, such as cinnabar, the source of vermilion red.<\/p>\n

A display case dedicated to these pigments is located in Room N of the gallery.<\/p>\n

A more specific presentation on the role of pigments in art history is available as an audio guide<\/a>: created by students from the \u00c9cole des Mines, it is part of an end of the year project.<\/p>\n

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Lapis lazuli, the origin of ultramarine blue, from Sar-e-Sang in Afghanistan (ENSMP 84355).<\/em><\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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Serpentine representation of Lao Tzu holding an apple, object from the collection of Henri Bertin (Bertin catalogue n\u00b0 271, n. 31-61 ; ENSMP 68353 ; 10 x 6,5 x 3.3 cm). \u00a9 Mus\u00e9e de Min\u00e9ralogie Mines Paris – PSL \/ E. Gaillou.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Microscope, developed by Emile Bertrand.<\/em> \u00a9 Mus\u00e9e de Min\u00e9ralogie Mines Paris – PSL \/ E. Gaillou.<\/em><\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Art Objects and Instruments<\/h3>\n

The museum’s collections include unusual objects, such as those from the Bertin Collection: Bertin, a minister under Louis XV, was passionate about Chinese culture and art. Confiscated during the French Revolution, his art objects were nationalized and integrated into the museum’s collections. These include primarily jade and serpentine objects.<\/p>\n

The museum also possesses a collection of busts representing prominent scientific figures, as well as some scientific instruments, such as microscopes, spectrographs, hydrostatic balances, and wooden models, mainly dating from the 19th century.<\/p>\n

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Microscope identification slide, created by Pasteur. \u00a9 Mus\u00e9e de Min\u00e9ralogie Mines Paris – PSL \/ E. Gaillou.<\/em><\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":3557,"parent":2724,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2835","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Cabinet of Curiosities - Mus\u00e9e de Min\u00e9ralogie<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.minesparis.psl.eu\/musee\/en\/the-museum\/collections-eng\/the-cabinet-of-curiosities\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"fr_FR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Cabinet of Curiosities - Mus\u00e9e de Min\u00e9ralogie\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.minesparis.psl.eu\/musee\/en\/the-museum\/collections-eng\/the-cabinet-of-curiosities\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Mus\u00e9e de Min\u00e9ralogie\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-19T14:21:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/mines.feelandclic.dev\/musee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2026\/08\/Paesina_Copyright_ENSMP-Gaillou_80081_04b.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1880\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1096\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Dur\u00e9e de lecture estim\u00e9e\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.minesparis.psl.eu\\\/musee\\\/en\\\/the-museum\\\/collections-eng\\\/the-cabinet-of-curiosities\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.minesparis.psl.eu\\\/musee\\\/en\\\/the-museum\\\/collections-eng\\\/the-cabinet-of-curiosities\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Cabinet of Curiosities - 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