Michel Pastoureau: «When we talk about one color, we talk about all the others».»

What does the history of colors in the West tell us about Western history itself? French historian Michel Pastoureau, a leading specialist in the field, was in Lausanne this month to talk to us about this fascinating link.

In 2002, Bleu. Histoire d'une couleur tells the story of a single color through time. Drawing on his extensive knowledge of medieval colors and symbolism, French medievalist Michel Pastoureau offers a comprehensive historical overview of the West's «favorite» color. Almost twenty years later, Jaune. Histoire d'une couleur is the fifth and, at present, the latest in a comprehensive overview of colors in the West.

But Michel Pastoureau is also the man who has restored heraldry to its former glory. Since his thesis on medieval heraldic bestiaries in 1972, he has demonstrated that this life