The president couples of France and Russia jointly unveiled the special Russian arts exhibition, dubbed as "Sainte Russies," on Tuesday at the Louvre Museum, a flashing symbol to formally polish the cross culture year of Russia and France.

Nicolas Sarkozy and Dmitri Medvedev, along with respective first ladies, visited the Russian paintings, icons and manuscripts dated differently back to 16th century and 17th century, some even as old as the 9th century.

According to Russian sources, the exhibition showcases about 1, 000 years of Russian history and brought to France over 400 pieces of collections from largest Russian museums, including the Kremlink, the State History Museum and the Tretyakov Gallery.

Medvedev hailed the exhibition "a very important element of the Russian Year in France" by leaving his writing in the Louvre guest book.

The exhibition will open to public on Friday and is sponsored by the French energy company Total Foundation and GDF Suez, and Russian gas supplier Gazprom.