World Culture: The exhibition "The Age of French elegance", organized by the State Hermitage within the XXVIII Biennale of Antiquaries, is held in Paris

From 10 to 18 September 2016 at the Grand Palais (Paris, France) is held an exhibition of "The Age of French elegance", organized by the State Hermitage within the XXVIII Biennale of Antiquaries.

The exhibition presents the works of French decorative art of the XVIII century - vases, clocks, candelabra made of porcelain, silver and bronze - some of which are shown for the first time outside the museum. The Hermitage collection of French decorative art is very varied and is considered one of the best in the world outside of France. The level of this collection is largely determined by the close relationship between Russia and France for many centuries. Russian monarchs regularly visited Paris, where they acquired the art of porcelain, silver and bronze. Many masterpieces of exceptional fall in the collection of Russian emperors as diplomatic gifts.

In spite of all the vicissitudes of history, the Hermitage has a unique collection of French decorative art works forming part of the museum's permanent exhibition. Many of them can be seen at temporary exhibitions, both in Russia and abroad. The exhibition "The Age of French elegance" the State Hermitage shows only 34 items of French decorative art from its own collection, but they give an idea of ​​the high level of museum collections related to the XVIII century - century French elegance.