Gold is a chemical element, a transition metal and inert (doesn’t react with almost anything). Its atomic number is 79, meaning it is one of the heavier chemical elements that was formed in the last stages of a dying star, the supernova. This is where pressure and heat is so intense that the elements heavier than iron are formed in the explosion.
On earth gold comes in a variety of forms such as nuggets or in veins in rock. Since its discovery by mankind, it has been revered as a precious metal. It is relatively rare on earth compared to other metals, so was used for things of high value such as currency and for nobility and royalty as well as in arts and architecture.
In the modern era in monetary policy, gold was the backbone of currency known as the gold standard. However this system was abandoned in favour of fiat currency which is the current monetary system. This means that the money in circulation isn’t backed by any kind of physical commodity (like gold), it is essentially made out of nothing.
Language
Like with other colours, the meaning and use of the word ‘gold’ changed with time and events.
The word ‘gold’ derives from earlier leagues and means ‘to shine’.
Gold was seen as perfect and so was part of the name given to geometric principles like ‘the golden ratio’ and ‘golden rule’.
A person’s most successful years and latter are sometimes referred to ‘golden years’. The height of a civilisation is known as the ‘golden age’. The ideal zone for various concepts is known as the ‘goldilocks zone’ after the fairy tale.
‘Golden hair beauties’ is a term for blonde hair. The hair colour comes from low levels of the dark pigment eumelanin. First English reference to blonde hair is 1481.
‘Silence is golden’. Phrase is said to go back to 600 CE, when the phrase was used in a Jewish rabbinical commentary called Midrash.
Pigments
As it is a metal, it was used to cover things in the gilding process rather than to paint with. It could be laid thinly onto statues with another base like bronze. Some statues were made entirely of gold. It could be used for panelling or as gold leaf to cover furniture and create decorative elements.
Orpiment was used in ancient times as a substitute as it closely resembled gold however it is arsenic and is toxic.
For painting later in on the centuries, artisans would use a paint made of finely powdered gold which could be used on a gold-flecked paper. Gold leaf was the main way to apply gold to paintings and art pieces in the renaissance. Due to price and status, it was only used for particular purposes like for religious purposes or noble and royal commissions.
In the modern age, there are synthetic versions of gold paint and many are produced now by eco-friendly paint companies.
Tones
Gold in its natural form is reddish-yellow. In metals there are different shades of gold such as rose gold or yellow gold. White gold is also common for jewellery.
There aren’t many variations of gold in the arts, it is just warm and rich in tone.
General use in society
Gold use began thousands of years ago in the Palaeolithic era of human history. It has always been revered since its discovery and the use in society demonstrates that. With the modern age however, science has uncovered properties that have come in handy with electronics especially. However gold still holds its value as an investment as is still a coveted metal today.
Ancient Times
It is considered the earliest metal used by humans. Evidence can be found as far back as 40,000 years ago, well into the Palaeolithic. The oldest gold artefacts, objects actually fashioned from gold, date back to around 6,000 years ago.
Ancient Egypt used gold a lot as objects and decoration. They especially liked to decorate tombs with gold and leave gold objects in the coffin for the afterlife. Of course, these have been raided over the centuries by tomb robbers. The major exception was the tomb of Tutankhamen which was discovered in 1922 with all the objects still intact.
Gold was being used as currency alongside silver and copper from around 600 BC. Though this did open up avenues of fraud for people, as they would chip off bits of the coin and still present the remainder as currency of the original value.
The ancient story of King Midas comes from the real Midas who ruled Phrygia in Greece, 7th or 8th century BCE. After his death, legends arose that whatever he touched turned to gld. This has been turned into many tales since.
Medieval and Renaissance
Mesoamerica had a lot of gold artefacts and so this was one of the reasons it attracted colonisers. This includes the legendary tale of El Dorado, the lost city of gold.
Africa has some of the largest natural deposits of gold and again, would attract colonisers to take advantage of it.
In the medieval practice of alchemy, alchemists attempted to claim that they could turn any metal to gold.
In religion, gold is used a lot in buildings. The Dome of the Rock is covered in gold, as is the Sikh Golden Temple in Amritsar.
In the arts, gold leaf really took off with religious imagery and depictions of the divine.
Modern Age
In 1848 gold was found in Coloma California where 300,000 people went to find their fortunes. San Francisco was transformed into a city, they became known as the 49ers.
The Gold mines in South Africa caused one of the great wars of 19th century, the Anglo-Boer war of 1899 – 1902. Gold rush of Witwatersrand began in 1886 and led to development of Johannesburg.
Today in competitions, gold is the top prize. Other prizes are depicted in gold such as the Golden Globe.
India and China are the largest consumers of gold. It thought that 50% of the world’s gold is in jewellery, 40% in investments and 10% in industry.
In modern technology, gold is used extensively as it is a great conductor of electricity. It is also used in space craft engineering as gold reflects heat and other dangerous waves coming from space. It is also popular for orthodontia.
