Thin sheet of gold antiquely obtained by hitting the metal (see gold-beater) until it reached a thickness close to 0,001 mm., so as to knock down the gilding costs and to facilitate the application itself. Thanks to the extraordinary malleability of the metal, today, the gold leaf, available on the market reaches 0,00012 mm. Gold leaf is commercialized in small books of standard size, usually 8x8 or 10x10 cm. With a certain quantity of silver, it is possible to obtain different colours, including white gold: a common characteristic is a certain transparency of the light that, obviously, is of diverse colours in relation to the composition of the gold.