Czar Nicholas II commissioned a series of eggs from the Faberge company in the late 19th century to satisfy his hunger for expensive trinkets. They are exquisite to be sure, but meanwhile his country was disintegrating. Over 500,000 were dying of starvation which ultimately led to the 1917 revolution and the execution of the entire Russian royal family.
The abyss into which Russia was sinking is best represented by "The Black Square", painted by Kazimir Malevich in 1913.
