All that glisters is not gold

The sculpture - "For the Love of God" - has a price tag of €73 m making it the most expensive piece of contemporary art ever made.

Diamond carats and diamond dust 
The more than 8,000 diamonds involved in the skull caused a standstill in the diamond trade market in 2006. The sculpture has just been on display in the White Cube Gallery in London. To ensure that the media focus wouldn't be on human rights in African countries supplying the diamonds, both the gallery and the Mayfair jewellers that made the skull promised that the diamonds are conflict-free and ethically sourced with written guarantees in compliance with the United Nations resolutions.

The skull is entirely covered with small diamonds much in the manner of the Mexican Aztecs. On its forehead is the prize stone - a 52,40 carat diamond. The skull once belonged to a European who died between 1720 and 1810. The price of the materials and labour is about €18m. For those who cannot afford the sculpture, there are limited editions of silkscreen prints of the skull ranging in price from €1,500 to €15,000. The most expensive are sprinkled with diamond dust.

Obsessed with death
A diamond-covered skull, pickled cows, sheep and sharks have all been integrated in Hirst's works. One of his more noted is the almost 5-meter tiger shark immersed in formaldehyde named: The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living.

Another controversial piece was his "Virgin Mother" (see photo from the unveiling at the Royal Academy of Arts in London in 2006), an 11 m tall bronze statue weighing 13½ ton. The Virgin Mother had layers removed on one side to reveal the foetus and her skull and muscles.

Besides these notorious works dealing with life, death, love and immortality, Hirst sells spin paintings, medicine cabinet sculptures and butterfly collages. Some regard him as more of an advertising magnate than an artist due to the headline nature of his works, as well as the fact that many of them are made by his studio assistants or by jewellers as is the case with his newest piece. In this respect he has a set-up similar to that of the Renaissance artists or pop-artist Andy Warhol. The artist is the creative person coming up with ideas and new concepts, and the assistants execute the work.

All that glisters is not gold
True enough Shakespeare, not only gold glitters, so do diamonds. Hirst and his diamond-studded skull may be a shining symbol of our time when eccentric pieces of artwork are up for grabs by the rich. It is beyond doubt that Hirst has an amazing imagination and has turned it into a well-tuned business thanks to his assistants, galleries and the media. But not all that looks and seems valuable may be valuable. All that glisters is not gold.