The Golden Legend

The autumn special at Ueno's National Museum of Western Art takes visitors to the shores of the ancient Black Sea and the Mediterranean, where civilisations from the Greeks to the Etruscans and the Romans gave gold and goldsmithing the near-mythical status this precious metal and its manipulation continue to enjoy in the present. Starting out at the 6,000-year-old tombs of Varna, Bulgaria, where some of the oldest gold items in existence have been discovered, the exhibition also takes up the Greek legend of Jason and the Argonauts before heading west to the Italian peninsula. The ancient bling on display ranges from necklaces and rings to ornate headbands and sword accessories.