“If you want your name to rule forever, make it in gilt bronze”

At the end of 2016, William L. Hamilton, noticing the many gilded works of art exhibited around New York City looked into the process for creating gilt bronze. He spoke with a number of artisans and attended a meeting of experts held at the Frick Collection on December 12, 2016. He shared some of what he learned in a December 23, 2016 article in The New York Times (“Our Midas Moment” ). His final words on the subject however ignore both the fact that gilded bronze requires conservation maintenance and that gilt objects have often been destroyed for their materials. They are: “If you want your name to rule forever, make it in gilt bronze”.