With a special focus on processes of artistic transfer between the Apennine peninsula and other regions in the Mediterranean and beyond, this paper sheds new light on haloes and gold grounds in thirteenth-to fifteenth-century Italian painting. By means of case studies, it analyzes both (1) the role of haloes and gold grounds within the specific logic of the images, and (2) the impact of imported artifacts (their techniques, decoration, and materiality) on Italian panel painting as well as the complex interplays between imports and local production. Elucidating the intersections, frictions, and fields of tension between visual and material culture, this paper contributes to discussions on transmedial and transmaterial dynamics, transcultural art history, and the multireferentiality of gold.