Janoschka magazine Linked_V6_2021

8 i n s i g h t s
issue #6 © l i n k e d 9
The light
of the gods
Lustrous and rare, heavy, alluring, beautiful and magical.
Gold inspires almost all of us to dream: of fairy-tale treasures,
of glittering jewellery, of unbelievable riches.
Gold epitomises luxury – it is exquisite and exclusive and
lends everything a special appeal.
The Incas referred to gold as the “tears of the sun“. The Pharaohs
used it as a burial object. The Spanish Conquistadors crossed
the Atlantic to find the legendary “El Dorado” with its untold
golden treasures for their king. To this day, our fascination with
this precious metal runs literally like a “golden thread” through the
history of humanity. The roofs and façades of temples, mosques
and churches gleam with gold; a golden sheen endows statues
with dignity, status and sanctity. The royal chambers and the state
rooms at Versailles, Schönbrunn and other baroque and rococo
palaces would be unimaginable without their gold lustre. There is
gold wherever you look, but how can that be? Since human beings
first discovered gold thousands of years ago, only 190,000 tonnes
of it have been found across the planet. How can that be enough
to create the many golden things that surround us? Not to mention
the fact that pure gold is very expensive.