How Did Ancient Japanese Gold Leaf Artists Work At Nanoscale?

We know that ancient Japanese gold leaf artists were truly masters of their craft - their works are ornate and delicate. What remains a mystery is how artifacts were gilded with gold leaf that was hand-beaten to the nanometer scale. Gold leaf refers to a very thin sheet made from a combination of gold and other metals. It has almost no weight and can only be handled by specially designed tools. Even though the ancient Egyptians were probably the first to gild artwork with it, the Japanese have long been credited as being able to produce the thinnest gold leaf in the world. read more

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