Gold Is Beautiful
Ever since we have had records, gold has been used by people to make coins or to adorn themselves either by jewelry or other ornaments. Though clearly a symbol of wealth and power, its beauty combined with its capacity to resist oxidation were the ones to give it its name. In Latin gold is aurum, which means shining dawn. Therefore its name does not refer to its symbolization of status but to its pure and impressive beauty.
The simplest definition of beauty would be the pleasure we perceive by seeing a person or an object. It is crystal clear artisans have felt this pleasure when seeing gold, otherwise being unexplainable what attracted them to use it substantially for making ornaments and improving their art of doing so. The tomb of Tutankhamen, the biggest gold collection of jewelry in history, shows the extent of this attraction humans felt for gold since oldest times. Even when used to symbolize wealth and power like in the Roman Empire later, the fact household items and furniture were made of it proves that this precious metal was considered beautiful by them, highly pleasing their senses.
The exploration of Americas by the conquistadors was also due to the histories about the rich and numerous gold ornaments of the natives. Though gold was perceived as valuable in itself and as a means of preserving wealth, how could we satisfactorily explain the infatuation of the Pre-Columbian cultures with it, in their development of elaborate techniques of processing it to perfection, such as filigree, inlay or granulation? The only viable explanation is that they were attracted by its beauty, by its never degrading luster.
The human traits that were perceived as beautiful have changed over time, from one place to another, from one nation to another. But gold has been always perceived as beautiful, time or place being of no importance. Even it did not have to be processed in the form of human ornaments, simple gold bullion could be considered as beautiful due to its beautiful sheen. Humans were so attracted to jewelry exactly because they felt embellished by gold, as if appropriating its beauty.
If the primary perception of gold had not been of something beautiful, people would have used other metals for ornaments, clothes or jewelry. But it was its beauty that transformed as it were into power, a fact clearly evidenced by the meeting in the Field of Cloth of Gold when Henry VIII astounded his rival by his marquee of cloth of gold and its equally golden armor that shone as dawn.
Article Source: FxTradingStock.com
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Learn from experts how to purchase gold bullion in times of economic crisis.
by: Jack Wogan
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Word Count: 436
Date: Sun, 25 Jul 2010
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