Beijing Exhibition | Splendor - The Golden Age of European Antique Jewelry

On December 2, 1804, Napoleon Bonaparte's coronation ceremony was held at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris. The 35-year-old European conqueror refused to be crowned by Pope Pius VII, placing the crown on his own head and then crowning Empress Josephine. This scene was immortalized by the famous French painter Jacques-Louis David in his masterpiece "The Coronation of Napoleon." Equally radiant as this grand historical event are the neoclassical style jewels worn by Napoleon and Josephine depicted in the painting. This moment is highly symbolic in both the history of European jewelry and political and social history. The advent of the Napoleonic era not only accelerated the development of capitalism in Europe but also ushered in a golden age for the ancient European jewelry industry. Throughout the 19th century, European civilization reached the pinnacle of the world, achieving dazzling brilliance and influencing the globe. During this century, jewelry, like contemporary art, architecture, and fashion, witnessed the grand imagination and creation of European civilization's elegant taste. In the midst of various surging art movements such as Neoclassicism, Romanticism, Realism, Impressionism, Symbolism, and Art Nouveau, generations of jewelry art masters and masterpieces were born, giving rise to the modern well-known jewelry brands. "Splendor - The Golden Age of European Antique Jewelry" specially selects dozens of Western antique jewelry art treasures, focusing on the trends and changes of 19th-century European antique jewelry, aiming to provide the audience with a concise understanding of the artistic origins and important styles of the golden age of Western jewelry. These antique jewels, embodying the genius creativity and ingenuity of numerous jewelry art masters, are true works of art, comparable to contemporary paintings and sculptures. These magnificent works not only bear witness to the changes in aesthetic tastes of the era and society but also represent the endless exploration of jewelry as an art form. This is the fundamental reason why they remain dazzling and radiant to this day. Exhibition Period: 8.22~9.28 Address: B1, Building C, Yingke Center, No. 2 North Road, Workers' Stadium, Chaoyang District