April 17, 2011. (Romereports.com) The Vatican Museums have opened their doors to the beautiful works of
Fabergé, the jeweler of the Romanov Court and European aristocracy. In
an exhibition of 140 pieces from the best Russian jewelry in the past
hundred years.
Antonio Paolucci
Vatican Museums Director“Our Russian friends have brought the beauty of liturgical gold and precious icons. It also includes imperial gold from the famous Easter eggs produced by Carl Faberge, the best jeweler from late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.”The main pieces of the exhibition are these Easter eggs made by the prestigious jeweler for the tsars Alexander III and Nicholas II. These eggs accompanied the last of the Romanov's from birth until death and are part of the official history of the Tsar's family.
Tatyana Muntyan
Commissioner, 'Faberge Le immagini sacre'
“The nine Easter eggs made by Fabergé under the commission of the Russian imperial family represent unique monuments that bear witness to events of Russian history at that time. In this exhibition you can see both the first and last of these Easter eggs commissioned by the czars.” The first was the 'Hen Egg' that the Emperor Alexander III gave to his queen. There is also the 'Coronation Egg', made from gold, silver, diamonds and rubies with a miniature copy of the coach that transported the Empress Alexandra Feodorovna in her coronation ceremony. This was a gift from Nicholas II to his mother, with a portrait of himself and his son, an Easter egg that was finished during the First World War.
The exhibition includes these beautiful icons of imperial times, with frames made by renowned silversmiths. These are some of the few works that survived the Russian Revolution, when most religious works were brutally destroyed.
Msgr. Melchor Sánchez de Toca y Alameda
Secretary, Pontifical Council for Culture“I think it is an expression of faith made in the culture, in a very special way because they are works of art of priceless value but are a concrete expression of a faith that translates into artistic expression.”For the Vatican, the exhibition also shows the good relations between the Catholic Church and the Patriarchate of Moscow, which this year celebrates Easter on the same days.
Antonio Paolucci
Director, Vatican Museums“This exhibition helps improve the good relations we already share not only between Italy and Russia but also the entire Catholic Church and the Russian Orthodox Church. It is part of an outreach program and reciprocal knowledge.”Msgr. Melchor Sánchez de Toca y Alameda
Secretary, Pontifical Council for Culture“The exhibition is part of a collaboration that has already existed for several years between the Moscow Patriarchate and the Holy See and has manifested into different concerts, exhibitions, symposioms, and conferences.”The exhibition offers a special chance to enter and admire the enchanting world of jewelry from a historic empire.
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