Unquestionably one of the most valuable and ambitious works in the entire history of art, the Amber Room was famous throughout Europe as "the eighth wonder of the world". Its vast and intricately worked amber panels were sent by Frederick I of Prussia to Peter the Great of Russia in 1717 as a gift, and soon became a symbol of Russia's imperial might. For over two hundred years the room remained in Russia, but with the outbreak of war, Germany laid claims to it once again it as a showpiece for the Third Reich. When the Nazis swept into St Petersburg, it was ripped from the walls, packed into crates and disappeared from view, never to be seen again.