They are 8,601 of the most perfect diamonds money can buy.And as befits an artist obsessed by death, Damien Hirst has set them in an 18th century skull. Despite the £50 million ($99 million) price tag, potential buyers are already registering interest in purchasing the work entitled For The Love Of God.
The rest of us must queue for a free ticket to view it at the White Cube gallery in Mayfair and absorb the dazzle of the biggest jewellery commission in Britain in a century.
Unveiling it today, Hirst, 41, said he had been inspired by Mayan and Inca skulls. "[I wondered] what was the maximum you could do as a celebration against death," he said. "The most I could do was if I covered a perfect skull with perfect diamonds."
With his dealer Jay Jopling splitting the £12 million ($23.73 million) cost of the raw materials, Hirst began buying flawless, ethically-sourced diamonds for the project.
It is the highlight of Beyond Belief, one of the biggest exhibition of Hirst's work ever held in London. Hirst said of the skull: "You kind of think it might be a gross idea, but when you look at it, it's calm. To see something of such beauty after the end, you hope it would give people hope."
Link & Image: DailyMail
Tags: Skull | Diamond
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