Gold is at once the most malleable and the most ductile of metals. One ounce can be hammered into a 100-foot (30-metre) square of gold leaf or drawn into a mile (1.6 km) of fine wire. Because of its chemical inertness, gold retains its brilliant colour even after centuries of exposure to corrosive elements. The most workable of metals, gold has been forged, chased, embossed, engraved, inlayed, cast, and—in the form of gold leaf—used to gild metals, woods, leather, and parchment. Gold wire has found wide uses in brocades and ornamentation of other materials.

From the earliest of times, gold was often held in awe as the symbol of divinity and was therefore the material of choice for religious objects. During the European Middle Ages, gold was used widely for crosses, altars, doors, chalices, and reliquaries. This association with divinity naturally developed into an association with royalty. In ancient Egypt, for example, all gold was the property of the pharaoh, and even in modern times the accoutrements of royalty are predominantly gold. Objects of solid gold have always been the province of the wealthy, but, with the development of gilding, golden artwork and jewelry became accessible to the middle classes.