{"product_id":"the-lure-of-gold-an-artistic-and-cultural-history","title":"The Lure of Gold: An Artistic And Cultural History","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe dazzlingly illustrated story of how the worlds most beautiful element has influenced the art  economy  and society of every civilization. When Hesiod  the Greek poet of the eighth century B.C.  recounted the history of the world as he understood it  he described the legendary first generation of mortal men  who lived in peace and ease  as the people of gold. Nearly three millennia later  we still refer to a particularly happy or prosperous era as a golden age. The reason Hesiods metaphor translates so perfectly into our own idiom is that the mystique of gold  the quintessential precious metal  is truly universal. The very scarcity of gold accounts for part of its allure and much of its monetary value: the total volume of gold ever mined  from prehistory to the present day  would probably fit inside a cube with sides just twenty yards (18 m) long. Yet golds incredible material properties also contribute to its appeal. Gold does not corrode  so it never loses its brilliant luster  and it can be chased  embossed  punched  drawn into wires  hammered foil-thin  and shaped in countless other ways. This engaging book reveals that the ways in which gold  in turn  has shaped humanity are no less numerous. Since prehistory  for example  artisans have fashioned gold into ritual objects and high-status ornaments; beginning in the sixth century B.C.  gold served as currency; and even in the modern era it has encouraged wars of conquest and triggered frantic gold rushes. Each chapter is devoted to one historical epoch  explaining how people of that time mined and refined gold  and how they used it for cultural and economic purposes. Two hundred gorgeous color photographs illustrate golden objets dart as diverse as the funerary masks of Tutankhamen; intricate Celtic jewelry; a figurine of El Dorado  a pre-Columbian chief said to ritualistically cover his entire body in gold dust; bejeweled medieval reliquaries and crucifixes; and even Gustav Klimts gold-drenched canvas The Kiss. With its authoritative yet lively text and these arresting illustrations  The Lure of Gold sets  as it were  the gold standard for books on material culture.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44987651096629,"sku":"ByrdShop_0789209004","price":51.45,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780789209009_7ec9b5f1-1286-4e68-a551-103abbfeb320.jpg?v=1772681560","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-lure-of-gold-an-artistic-and-cultural-history","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}