The allure of gold is timeless. For millennia, it has been a symbol of the divine, the eternal, and the sacred. For fine art photographer and multidisciplinary artist Zack Zublena, gold is more than a material—it is a central theme in a long-standing artistic exploration. This journey, which has shaped his acclaimed fine art photography, has recently led him to Florence, the heart of the Renaissance, to immerse himself in the traditional craft of gold leaf gilding. His training at the esteemed Oro e Colore workshop represents not a new beginning, but a deepening of a profound and evolving relationship with one of humanity’s most revered elements.
Zack’s fascination with gold is rooted in a historical reverence that began thousands of years ago. The story of gold in art finds its earliest, most powerful expression in Ancient Egypt, around 2600 BCE. For the Egyptians, gold was not merely a sign of wealth; it was the “flesh of the gods.” Its incorruptible nature and radiant luster made it the perfect medium to represent eternity and divinity. Pharaohs were encased in it for their journey to the afterlife, and sacred objects were sheathed in its brilliance to honor the gods.
This ancient understanding of gold as a conduit to a divine or eternal state informs much of Zack’s artistic philosophy. He sees this early use not as decoration, but as a sophisticated symbolic language designed to capture something of the sun’s life-giving power and the promise of immortality. It is this symbolic weight, this connection to the sacred, that he has explored through his photographic work and now investigates through direct, hands-on practice.
The sacred tradition of using gold in art traveled through civilizations, eventually reaching a technical and artistic apex in Renaissance Florence. While the Byzantine Empire preserved many gilding techniques, it was the Florentine masters of the 14th and 15th centuries who perfected the art of doratura a guazzo, or water gilding. In their hands, traditional gold leaf gilding in Florence became a way to bathe religious altarpieces and icons in a celestial light. Artists like Giotto and Fra Angelico used shimmering gold backgrounds not to depict physical reality, but to create a window into a heavenly realm, a space outside of time.
This evolution from Egyptian funerary rites to Florentine altarpieces marks a critical shift in artistic intention. The gold was no longer just the flesh of the gods , but the very light of heaven made manifest on a wooden panel. It was this mastery of light and symbolism that established Florence as the epicenter of the craft and created a legacy that continues to draw artists like Zack centuries later.
To connect directly with this lineage, Zack is undertaking intensive practical training at Oro e Colore, a renowned Florentine workshop dedicated to preserving and teaching the traditional decorative arts. Here, under the guidance of master artisans, he is learning the meticulous, disciplined process of water gilding, not as an abstract historical lesson, but as a living, breathing craft. This experience is about more than acquiring a new skill; it is an immersion into the physical and philosophical dimensions of the material that has long been central to his work.
The Florentine water gilding method is a slow, exacting art that demands patience and precision. Zack’s training began with the foundational—and arguably most critical—stage: surface preparation. Unlike modern oil-based gilding, which can be applied to almost any surface, traditional water gilding requires a base of flawless gesso, a mixture of animal-skin glue and gypsum. He learned to apply up to eight thin layers, sanding each one to a perfectly smooth, glass-like finish.
Upon this foundation, a layer of bole is applied. This special clay, mixed with glue, provides the final cushion for the gold leaf and, crucially, determines its final tone. The color of the bole—traditionally red, yellow, or black—imparts a subtle warmth and depth to the gold that cannot be achieved with any other method. For Zack, this preparatory work has revealed a new appreciation for the unseen labor that creates the final luminous effect, a process he views as a form of artistic meditation.
The atmosphere at Oro e Colore is one of quiet focus. The tools are timeless: brushes made from squirrel hair for the gilder’s tip, which lifts the impossibly thin sheets of gold, and polished agate stones for burnishing. Handling 24K gold leaf, which can be beaten to a thickness of less than a micron, is an exercise in control and sensitivity. Zack describes the experience of using his own breath to gently lay the leaf onto the prepared bole as a moment of profound connection between the artist and the material.
Once the gold is applied, the magic of burnishing begins. By rubbing the surface with a smooth agate stone, the gilder compresses the gold and the bole beneath it, transforming the matte finish into a brilliant, mirror-like shine. It is this step that creates the "divine" light characteristic of Florentine masterpieces. Through this physically demanding process, Zack is gaining an intimate understanding of how to manipulate light and texture, knowledge that directly informs his broader artistic vision.
Zack’s work has long been recognized in the public sphere, with his fine art photography prints adorning the walls of more than 120 David Lloyd Clubs. His explorations of gold in his photographic collections, such as Golden Souls, were based on a deep conceptual and symbolic understanding. Now, his hands-on training in Florence is enriching that understanding with a tactile, material knowledge.
Learning the disciplined craft of gilding is providing a new vocabulary for his art. It is a bridge between the ephemeral nature of photography—which captures a moment of light—and the enduring, physical presence of gold. This direct engagement with the metal is already inspiring new pathways for his creative expression, pushing him beyond the lens and into the realm of three-dimensional, mixed-media work.
The influence of his Florentine training is already taking shape in a new artistic direction. Zack is currently developing a mixed-media piece that combines a sculptural lion bas-relief with genuine 24K gold and silver leaf. This work represents a significant evolution, moving his art from the two-dimensional plane of photography into a sculptural form. The techniques of gesso preparation, bole application, and burnishing learned at Oro e Colore are all being integrated into this new creation. This piece, which is still in development and not yet part of a publicly available ZZGALLERY collection, signals an exciting fusion of his established photographic eye with the timeless, tangible artistry of Florentine craftsmanship.
Zack Zublena’s journey to Florence is a testament to an artist’s commitment to lifelong learning and the deepening of his core creative vision. From the symbolic power of gold in Ancient Egypt to the technical mastery of the Renaissance, he is tracing a historical lineage to enrich his own contemporary practice. This immersion in traditional gold leaf gilding in Florence is not a departure from his work in fine art photography but an expansion of it, providing new textures, insights, and possibilities.
As he continues to create the fine art photography prints available through ZZGALLERY, this new, tactile knowledge of gold will undoubtedly inform his work in subtle and powerful ways. His time at Oro e Colore is forging a more intimate bond with his chosen material, ensuring that his continuing exploration of gold will yield art that is ever more resonant, luminous, and profound.
