Political Memes

Seriously. Those classical art forms were originally meant to represent something. Originally deities that people very much actually believed in. And later they served as representations of higher virtues like justice, honor, courage, etc.

Classical forms, done right, can really send a message. Look at the art in the Supreme Court building. The current occupants of that building make a mockery of it. But that building was outfitted with carefully chosen sculptures meant to reflect the highest national virtues of law and justice.

And that's the problem with this. These figures don't represent anything to Trump, beyond just being expensive and vaguely "classy." Hell, even gilding usually has artistic reasons behind it. But if you throw gold on something without any thought or feeling, it just ends up feeling trashy.

Compare Trump's collection to a piece from the actual era he's imitating. Consider this video of a mechanical table from the actual 18th century, decorated with actual gilding in the same rococo style Trump loves. This was truly a piece for an aristocrat. It was finely made by a master craftsman, at the absolute pinnacle of his art. No expense was spared. The person who bought this piece could have easily afforded to have it covered completely in gold. But notice how restrained the gilding is in comparison to Trump's pieces here. The gilding still jumps out at you, but it's meant to complement and accentuate the rest of the piece, not dominate it. Gilding was the aristocratic decor equivalent of dessert. Sure, an aristocrat wanted to have some gilding. And sure, an aristocrat would certainly serve a nice dessert at any party they held. But if you serve your guests nothing but dessert, they're going to think something is wrong with you. Some fine gilding, carefully applied, communicated the aristocratic virtues of restraint and elegance. It says, "I have so much money that I don't feel the need to show it off." But if you cover everything in gold, then or now, it just feels trashy.