Jewelry: The Body Transformed
What is jewellery? Why do we wear it? What meanings does it convey? Far from being simply a superficial form of self-decoration, jewellery carries a profound cultural importance. Consider the significance of an engagement ring or the strict ceremonial rules governing the use of the British crown jewels.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art's exhibition Jewelry: The Body Transformed explores the ways in which jewellery acts upon and activates the body it adorns, bringing together some 230 objects from diverse places and times. A dazzling array of headdresses and ear ornaments, brooches and belts, necklaces and rings created between 2600 B.C.E. and the present day are displayed along with sculptures, paintings, prints, and photographs that will enrich and amplify the many stories of transformation that jewellery tells.
“Jewellery is one of the oldest modes of creative expression—pre-dating even cave painting by tens of thousands of years—and the urge to adorn ourselves is now nearly universal,” commented Max Hollein, Director of The Met. “This exhibition will examine the practice of creating and wearing jewellery through The Met’s global collection, revealing the many layers of significance imbued in this deeply meaningful form of art.”
If the body is a stage, jewellery is one of its most dazzling performers. Throughout history and across cultures, jewellery has served as an extension and amplification of the body, accentuating it, enhancing it, distorting it, and ultimately transforming it. Jewellery is an essential feature in the acts that make us human, be they rituals of marriage or death, celebrations or battles. At every turn, it expresses some of our highest aspirations.
Until February 24, 2019, The Met, Fifth Avenue, Floor 2, Gallery 999,
Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Exhibition Hall