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Intrigue and Mystery of the Amber
Room
The mystery of what is generally considered to be the greatest of the missing
treasures of Europe - the Amber Room - is still unsolved. However, Europe
does not give up, and the searches continue...
The Amber Room is surely one of the most original and - since its disappearance
in 1944 in the aftermath of the WWII - mysterious of the world's works
of art. The exquisite room made of several tons of the golden tree
resin - the lightest gem in the world - is often referred to as the "Eighth
Wonder of the World".
The Amber Room was a series of large wall panels inlaid with several
tons of masterfully carved high-quality amber, long wall mirrors and four
Florentine mosaics. The amber, which covered three walls, was arranged
in three tiers. The central (middle) tier consisted of eight large, symmetrical
vertical panels. Four of them contained pictures made of semiprecious
stones like quartz, jasmine, jade and onyx, executed in the 1750s in Florence
using the Florentine mosaic technique according to designs by the artist
Giuseppe Dzokki, and depicting five senses: Sight, Taste, Sound, Touch
and Smell. The distance between the large panels was occupied by mirrored
pilasters. The lower tier of the room was covered in square amber panels.
One of the corners contained a small amber table on an elegantly turned
leg. The room's furnishings consisted of inlaid wood commodes of Russian
origin, and a vase of Chinese porcelain. In addition, one of the most
valuable collections of amber objects created in the 17th and 18th centuries
by German, Polish and Russian masters was housed in the room's glass-covered
display cases.
The estimated value of the vanished Amber Room is more than $100 million.
Next pages >
History of the Room's Creation
> Reconstruction of the Amber
Room
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