Gold

Gold takes a journey around the globe to learn how gold elevated art in manuscripts and books and to look at the techniques used to handle this precious metal. The exhibition includes a range of objects, from Qur’ans written in gold, to diplomatic treaties inscribed on gold plates. Penned in gold ink are gospels from the age of Charlemagne, letters from King James II and decrees of Mughal Emperor Shah ‘Alam II. Portraits from Constantinople and illustrations in The Golden Haggadeh are set on backgrounds of gold leaf. Each stroke of the brush in these manuscripts builds the connection – layer-by-layer – between gold, the sacred and the royal.