Museum artefacts, such as medallions, letters, miniatures, and decorative crafts, document emotional experiences and domestic practices, elevating personal narratives into significant testimonies of cultural memory.

On Valentine’s Day, a holiday dedicated to love and romantic devotion, we present an exquisite item from the museum Collection: a fairground organ built by the French artisans Alexander Gasparini and Pierre Butel between 1913 and 1928.
The wooden body of the fairground organ is lavishly adorned with carved openwork and painted ornamentation. The central facade features a loving couple relaxing in a pastoral setting. This scene is a reproduction of 'Spring' from the pastoral series, ‘The Four Seasons’ (1755) by François Boucher.
Boucher created the renowned cycle for his main patroness, the Marquise de Pompadour.
The original canvas is currently held by The Frick Collection in New York.

The paintings in this series had an unusual shape, as they were designed to be placed above doorways (as dessus-de-portes) in one of Madame de Pompadour’s residences. Instead of the traditional depictions of agricultural labour of that time – such as ploughing or sowing, – Boucher interpreted the theme of the seasons through fêtes galantes (gallant scenes). Spring is presented as an idyllic encounter of a young couple within a pastoral setting. A young man is shown tucking flowers into the hair of a seated shepherdess, a gesture that represents both the awakening of the natural world and the blossoming of love. The inclusion of baskets of flowers underscores a sense of ease and languor. The work features the bright color scheme characteristic for Boucher, with a prevalence of pinks, blues, and soft greens that lend the piece a delicate, porcelain-like decorativeness.

François Boucher (1703–1770) was an eminent French painter, draftsman, engraver, and interior designer that became the epitome of the 18^th century Rococo style. As the 'First Painter to the King' Louis XV and a favourite of the Marquise de Pompadour, he created mythological, allegorical, and pastoral scenes in bright, delicate tones. Boucher was remarkably prolific, he was also famous for his tapestry cartoons, designs for Sèvres porcelain, and operatic set designs.
A few months before his death, Boucher was elected an honorary member of the Imperial Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg.

François Boucher can be considered the founder of an entire artistic school – he was a virtuoso draftsman who left behind a legacy of more than ten thousand drawings.