The Chaumet exhibition presents a magnificent tradition dating back to the seventeenth century: the corbeille de mariage, or wedding basket

The Chaumet exhibition presents a magnificent tradition dating back to the seventeenth century: the corbeille de mariage, or wedding basket. The set of gifts that the bridegroom prepared for his bride was presented in a special casket in the shape of a vase with a lid. The chest was usually made in papier-mâché with precious inlay. The tradition remained popular until the twentieth century, when it was replaced by more up-to-date practices. In significant unions the gifts were fitting: diamond parures, for example, as in the case of Napoleon. The gifts were put on public view from the moment the agreement or marriage contract was signed until the day of the ceremony itself. Society watched the elements of august courtship with relish and followed the appearance in the newspapers of news of royal gifts.

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At the close of the Strugatskys' "Roadside Picnic" the Golden Sphere is asked for this: "Happiness for everybody, free, and let nobody go away unsatisfied!" I do not promise to leave no one aggrieved, but the digest really does come free

At the close of the Strugatskys' "Roadside Picnic" the Golden Sphere is asked for this: "Happiness for everybody, free, and let nobody go away unsatisfied!" I do not promise to leave no one aggrieved, but the digest really does come free. So, here is the

Frederic Leighton

Frederic Leighton. “Daedalus and Icarus”, 1869 Daedalus warns his son not to climb too high: the heat of the sun may melt the wax, but Icarus is already gazing into the distance, and the lamentations of a foolish old man interest him not in the least

The Chaumet exhibition presents a magnificent tradition dating back to the seventeenth century: the corbeille de mariage, or wedding basket

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At the close of the Strugatskys' "Roadside Picnic" the Golden Sphere is asked for this: "Happiness for everybody, free, and let nobody go away unsatisfied!" I do not promise to leave no one aggrieved, but the digest really does come free

Frederic Leighton

Attempts to resolve the problems of many years of uncontrolled mass migration

Characters from Gogol's "Petersburg Tales" on the pedestal of the monument to Nikolai Gogol on Nikitsky Boulevard, photograph of the 1960s