Artists throughout the ages have
used precious metals and jewels to elevate everyday objects to
the realm of the extraordinary and to the worlds of gods, kings,
and legendary heroes. Inside these galleries are examples of the
magical transformation such precious materials perform. A gold
flowerpot glorifies the abundance of nature and the goldsmith’s
craft. Nature itself is represented as a shining goddess in a
bust by the Art Nouveau artist Alphonse Mucha. Compare the
Nepalese Buddha with the modern masterpiece by Archipenko, Flat
Torso, to see how different cultures and epochs treated the
notion of divine transcendence.
