Hey dear Hive Community, I hope you had a great day and hope you are also able to enjoy your weekend! Today I would like to discuss an interesting historical topic and hope you can expand your knowledge a little.
In the past I have already talked about the entire history behind the blacksmiths and in this post I would like to go specifically into the goldsmiths and whoever is interested in my other contribution will find it here. I created the artworks that can be seen here with the help of artificial intelligence and the profession of the goldsmith can already be traced back to ancient times and is just as old as the discovery of gold and already the ancient Egyptians created many works from gold. The exact meaning of goldsmith as a own profession was only created in the Middle Ages and the main tools at that time included the anvil, hammer, chisel, sickle and precision scales were also important to be able to determine the exact weight. Initially, the weight measurements were still very imprecise and this did not change until the 13th century as new scales were invented.
At that time, the goldsmiths mainly made objects for nobles such as chandeliers, candle holder, goblets, containers and other objects and also often combined their works with gemstones. From the 12th century, this all changed and gold was used more and more for gilding and more and more displaced silver for this purpose. The goldsmiths had played an important role in the Middle Ages and even then gold was often produced by counterfeiters, which is why the image of the goldsmiths was often attacked and in the 13th century, this craft has increasingly merged with Gothic, which also describes an important era of European architecture and art of the Middle Ages. With the beginning of the Renaissance, the art of goldsmithing reached one of the highlights and it inspired more and more artists.
Many well-known artists also devoted themselves to this craft and many painters and sculptors also learned this craft, which also shaped art history to a large extent. In the 17th century, when the trade blossomed more and more with minerals from other continents, the goldsmiths integrated this more and more into their works and with the beginning of the industrial revolution, this craft was changed more and more. The monetary system was also strongly influenced by the goldsmiths and in the past gold was still known mainly as a method of payment and in the 17th century, more and more people began to store their gold at the goldsmiths because they were known for their secure safes and for this they received receipts for the storage in paper form, which were accepted in payment transactions. These receipts were called Goldsmith receipts and replaced more and more gold coins as a method of payment and this historical era can be traced back to England.
Thanks for taking the time to read through my post and I hope you like it and can learn something new about history!