Beaten gold

[irmamar]

I want to translate a story, but I'm just having doubts in the first lines:

... a castle all of golden tiles, so worked that it looked as if it were made of solid, beaten gold.

I'm not sure what is beaten gold. The dictionary says that it can be translated by "oro batido" and, as I know nothing about jewellery, I've made a search to know what is "oro batido", and I've found that it is a thin leaf in gold (ready to be covered with gold ). Well, I take into account "a thin leaf in gold". But what is 'solid gold'? I think that it is "oro macizo", and I can't imagine a thin leaf in (or 'of', not sure) gold, which is "macizo" also (or it is too obvious). Well, I don't know how to explain it . What is "solid, beaten gold"?

My attempt: ...trabajado de tal manera que parecía como si estuviera hecho de oro macizo y batido.

Thanks.

[JPablo]

beat·en adj.
1. formed or shaped by blows; hammered: a dish of beaten brass.
I believe this Random House definition for "beaten" is what applies here.
...hecho de oro macizo moldeado.
'Oro batido' da la idea de la lámina de oro, por lo que no creo que funcione aquí.
"Beaten = moldeado a martillazos" (Pero lo de los martillazos lo dejaría implícito.)

[Perikles]

This is beaten gold....

[irmamar]

¡Ah, gracias!

Sí, lo de los martillazos mejor que no lo ponga

[hermit]

I think you have it right, Irmamar. "Solid gold" is just that, "oro macizo".
"Gold leaf" is "oro batido"; beaten or hammered very thin and used to
cover or sheath a less valuable metal or other substance so as to
resemble pure, solid gold that has been shaped by hammering. It is done to cut costs, and the object (in this case, tile) turns out looking very valuable.

[irmamar]

Wouldn't it be easier to melt the gold and shape it in a mould than beating it with a hammer?

Thanks.

[JPablo]

Both procedures exist. But I guess you use one or another depending on what you want to achieve...
¡Goza, goza el color, la luz, el oro! (This was from a sonet by Lope de Vega, or maybe Góngora...)

[Perikles]

Originally Posted by irmamar

Wouldn't it be easier to melt the gold and shape it in a mould than beating it with a hammer?

Thanks.

You can make gold sheets very much thinner by beating it than by melting. Also, if you are making a death mask, melted gold at 1000 degrees is a bad idea.

[irmamar]

Yes, you're right, fusion temperature of gold is very high.