The Goldsmith's Debt: Conceptions of Property in Early Modern Art

Reveals how art shaped the economy, social order, and legal claims during the rise of capitalism.

In the sixteenth century, German goldsmiths played a unique role in articulating property claims and social values. These artisans shaped precious metals into visible expressions of domination, subordination, and obligation. The objects they crafted played a major role in the practices of exchange and inheritance that were reconfiguring a tumultuous economic landscape. Cities commissioned gold...