Since the dawn of civilization, gold has held a unique place in the human imagination. Rare, radiant, incorruptible, it has always been more than a simple metal: a universal symbol of light, power, and eternity.
In Ancient Egypt, gold was considered the very flesh of the gods. Pharaohs used it for jewelry, funerary masks, and sarcophagi, convinced that this divine metal would accompany them into the afterlife.
Later, the Greeks and Romans attributed mystical and spiritual powers to it, associating gold with the sun and their deities.
During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, European artists and craftsmen turned gold leaf into a favored material to adorn manuscripts, altarpieces, and icons. Gold was not just used for embellishment, but to suggest the sacred and the timeless.
Today, this fascination remains. Contemporary art reinterprets gold, not for its material value, but for its symbolic and aesthetic power. This is where Antide’s work takes place: by applying gold leaf onto wood, metal, stone, or canvas, he reveals a light that transcends time. His creations echo this millennia-old story while offering a profoundly contemporary vision of beauty and eternity.
