The "Cabinet for Diamond Items" from the Picture House at Oranienbaum is made in the form of an intricate architectural structure with a mirrored finish

The "Cabinet for Diamond Items" from the Picture House at Oranienbaum is made in the form of an intricate architectural structure with a mirrored finish. Inside the display case itself are all manner of little mirrored drawers with bronze handles, platforms, balconies and arches, which turn the space into a glittering labyrinth. Grand Duke Peter Fyodorovich (the future Peter III) commissioned this cabinet in the German Baroque style for storing jewellery in 1747 from the craftsman Christian Ernst Eiger, for 120 roubles. The cabinet is made of coniferous wood and covered with two kinds of walnut veneer; it consists of six parts set one upon another. One of the few authentic pieces in the museum's collection that belonged personally to the emperor, it survived both the Revolution and the Great Patriotic War, though it has been restored twice. As for its looking magnificent, you can see that for yourselves!

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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 "Cabinet for Diamond Items" from the Picture House at Oranienbaum is made in the form of an intricate architectural structure with a mirrored finish

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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