Exhibition “Mysteries and Beauty. European Table Cabinets of the 16th–19th Centuries”

About exhibition

Items of furniture known as “Kunstschränke” (“art cabinets”) are connected with some of the most fascinating chapters in the history of art worldwide, covering a range of themes — from the philosophy of the world and the beginnings of collecting to the emergence of rare works of art. The exhibition, whose main exhibits will be art cabinets from the Hermitage collection, will be shown to the Russian public for the first time. The museum holds the largest collection of such works in the country, yet until now only a small part of it has been introduced into scholarly circulation. The exhibition will also present examples in carved bone and wood, jewelry pieces that once formed the cabinets' contents, and paintings. In total, about one hundred museum objects will be displayed.