Gold

by Jennifer Scott, Kathryn Jones, Lauren Porter

Gold is the most coveted of metals, its rarity and radiant natural beauty imbuing it with rich meaning throughout human history. For artists, gold has long been associated with the divine. For monarchs, it has been a means of symbolizing status and wealth. With Gold, Kathryn Jones, Lauren Porter, and Jennifer Scott have written a lively and highly informative cultural history of gold in the Royal Collection, one that explores its many manifestations throughout history and its use in promoting messages of power and wealth.
           
Drawing on the Royal Collection’s unparalleled collection of paintings, miniatures, jewelry, gold boxes, and drawings in and on gold, the book takes readers through the possibilities of this noble metal. Organized thematically, chapters include “Divinity,” which covers gold in devotional art; “Power,” which explores the role of gold as a symbol of status and wealth; and “Art,” which presents the craftsmanship and indestructible quality of gold objects.
           
From Fabergé’s astonishing gold-mounted boxes to the nearly-four-thousand-year-old Rillaton Gold Cup and drawings in gold paint by Edward Burne-Jones, this lavish book—in its own gold binding—presents this most precious substance throughout history in one hundred full-color illustrations.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, History

120 pages, Hardcover

First published October 15, 2014

Reviews

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book covers not only objects made of gold but also ones that use gold as a decorative component and artworks that use images of gold symbolically or allegorically or simply contain golden hues, such as the light from a lowering sun in a landscape painting. The diversity keeps it interesting.

[Frederic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Drawing on the British royal collections, presents a variety of works involving gold. An accessible, readable survey with excellent photographs.