Gilding is an old artistic trade with the tradition more than five millenniums long. It originates from ancient India and it was brought to Europe through Egypt. During the times of baroque and rococo, its artistic technique reached the highest point in developing. Until then, the method applied in producing gold leaves was the only thing that had been improved since Leonardo da Vinci’s design of the machine used for processing them. The gold leaves 0,0001 millimetre thick and 24 carats worth at the most were now attainable.

  In medieval Serbia, the symbolic representation of spiritual values by using gold was spread under the influence of the Byzantine art and Greek artisans. The medieval Serbian icon painting brought the spiritual strength and turned the ecclesiastical gilding into a form of Orthodox prayer.