Lure of Gold: An Artistic Cultural History

Table of Contents from: The Lure of Gold

Introduction
I. The Bronze Age and Early Advanced Civilizations
1. The Discovery of the “Sun Metal” in Prehistoric and Early Historical Times
2. Egypt: The Gold of the Pharaohs and Gods
3. Self-presentation and Divine Rites: The Gold Cultures of the Ancient Near East
4. Minoan Joie de Vivre and the Mycenaean Cult of Rulers

II. Europe in the First Millennium
5. Greece Influences an Age beyond Its Borders
6. The Mysterious Celts and Their Fascination with Gold
7. The Etruscans: Artists and Connoisseurs
8. Rome: From the Modesty of the Republic to the Splendor of the Empire

III. Great Non-European Cultures
9. Gold in the Islamic World: Between Moderation and Opulence
10. Gold for Buddha, Kings, and Emperors: Temples, Pagodas, and Insignia of Asia
11. The Discovery of the New World: The Legend of Eldorado
12. The Gleam on the Gold Coast: The Wealth of African Rulers

IV. The Western World from the Middle Ages to the Twentieth Century
13. Treasures of the Age of Migrations and the Early Middle Ages
14. Byzantium: The Gold-Glittering Bastion of Christianity
15. The Metaphysics of Light and the Demonstration of Power: Gold in the High and Late Middle Ages
16. The Metal of Artists, Alchemists, and Kings: The Renaissance, the Baroque, and Classicism
17. Gold in the Modern Age

Bibliography

Index