Gold and Society
Response inspired by ‘The
History of Art in Three Colours: Gold’ BBC4 documentary by Dr James Fox
Gold gives us status, and not
just in the sense of a material social standing. Gold will always lead us to
the fundamental ideology of an era, for gold is always used to represent what
is most important to a society. An example of this is the smattering of gold
related sayings there are in our language: ‘gold standard’, ‘golden rule’,
‘golden age’, all of which reinforce the idea of gold representing the best,
the most important, and the marker that everything else can be measured by.
Gold was first used by ancient
civilisations to depict the sun. The sun was seen as a mystical object
appearing and disappearing on a constant cycle. Awe-struck by its presence,
ancient societies worshipped the ‘sun-god’ and the elder tribe members used
golden representations to teach the others of the sun’s importance.
Sun worship was a key element of
Egyptian culture in 1400 BCE when Tutankhamen was Pharaoh. Even more important
to him than life was the afterlife. Leaving nothing to chance, Tutankhamen was
encased in gold to journey to other side, hoping it would bring him eternal
life. His tomb was discovered in 1922 by archaeologist Howard Carter.
Tutankhamen’s treasures were not intended to be seen by mortal eyes, his status
mattered only to the Gods.
In 300CE Constantin, the emperor
of Rome converted to Christianity, eschewing polytheism for the worship one
god. Christianity was a religion for the everyman, including the poor and as
such rejected the use of gold to worship their god. It was centuries later that
gold began to be used to represent Jesus, more particularly the halo
surrounding his head. This gold was not depicting an object, but something
immaterial – the light of God. In his documentary Dr Fox visits a contemporary
artist making Christian iconography. He explained why gold has been used
through the ages to depict the light of God: “Through reflection of light on
the gold, God is interacting with the painting and then with us because he is
the light, he is dynamic”. These paintings were intended to be viewed up close
by candle light, the glow would have been so blinding it would have seemed
other-worldly. The Basilica San Vitale in Italy is the most over the top
example of gold being used in Christian art. The interior of the building is
encrusted with gold faced glass mosaic tiles, which catch the light and appear
to shine.
By the time of the Renaissance,
gold was being used not to show the purity of God, but the power of kings.
Florence became the centre of the gold-smithing world, and the kings and queens
of Europe were hooked on the jewels produced there; none more so than ‘Augustus
the Strong’ of Saxony. The Golden Rider
in Dresden is a colossal horse mounted statue of himself, in gold, mimicking
the Roman emperors of old. So obsessed
with gold was Augustus that he kidnapped a young alchemist who claimed he could
turn base metals into the desired material. Imprisoned for a decade, the
alchemist worked tirelessly to produce gold, but was unsuccessful and eventually
executed.
However, in 1850 the miracle
seemed to have happened. George Elkington of Birmingham invented a machine
which would change the status of gold forever; he could turn any object into
gold. He called his process ‘Electro-plating’. Suddenly anyone could afford a
piece of mass-produced gold; replicas of ancient ceremonial objects were
churned out in their thousands losing all their original meaning. All society
cared about now was ownership, showing off their bit of ‘bling’, gold was now
longer a rare sacred material.
During the early 20th
Century an old romantic tried to reverse the onslaught of mass-production and
make gold sacred again. His name was Gustav Klimt. Glittering with gold leaf
and paint, Klimt’s painting ‘The Kiss’ shocked the art world with its
avant-garde composition, but the true meaning behind this image was the oldest
ideal. Klimt used gold to represent the most sacred thing we have: love. But
his dream could never truly work, the industrial revolution had changed us
forever, we all loved ‘The Kiss’ too much and had to have a piece of it.
Klimt’s master piece has been reproduced so often and onto the cheapest of
objects, its original meaning has been almost entirely dissolved.
But what does gold mean to us
today? As always gold represents society’s foremost desire, and in the 21st
Century that is money. The boom in the ‘Cash for Gold’ market typifies this ideal;
we are melting down any gold we can get our hands on for its monetary worth.
That money buys us the latest electronic gadgets so we can be like everyone
else and keep the status quo.
Related links:
About Tutankhamen: http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/article_index/t/tutankhamun,_king_of_egypt_13.aspx
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