The big question behind the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s latest exhibition is “Why?” Namely, why did jewelry, the oldest of art forms, develop across the world and through the ages? In the process, Jewelry: The Body Transformed presents a wide view of the idea of adornment, ranging from gilded toe covers and cotton hip cloth to necklaces laden with pencils or diamonds.

First, viewers are drawn into a dark hall with spotlights on a medley of precious things in scattered transparent columns, establishing equal billing for a global assortment before winding through such broad themes as “The Regal Body,” “The Transcendent Body,” and “The Alluring Body.”

It’s a sweeping view that, in New York, the Met alone can provide; indeed, the vast majority of artworks on display were taken from the museum’s own collection. Exploring the purpose of these items and the meaning behind various materials and symbols, the exhibition speaks ultimately to human ritual and desire.

But the exhibition is missing one thing. The criteria for inclusion is that “all are precious objects made specifically for the body, a setting like no other.” Yet, not a single item is seen on a living, breathing being. Photos and texts work to overcome this, showing iconic pearl-wearer Josephine Baker and explaining how various items were designed to move or sound to draw the attention of the gods (or admiring eyes). An early 12th century dancing celestial deity from Uttar Pradesh comes closest to showing movement, the beautifully contorted sandstone sculpture lit to show its embellished curves.

That said, with so many dazzling objects, this exhibition is sure to draw crowds. A few items are impossible to overlook (a bejeweled Chanel gown, for example), but take care not to miss a cluster of Mesopotamian pendants circa 1800-1600 B.C. and a delicate Egyptian Diadem with a pair of gazelle heads from the Tomb of the Three Foreign Wives of Thutmose III, circa 1479-1475 B.C. For those partial to contemporary art, Shaun Leane’s Crown of Thorns and dart earring designs for Alexander McQueen — plus spotlights on the business of jewelry and the many modern interpretations of the pearl, from the prim to the erotic — make the visit more than worthwhile.

Jewelry: The Body Transformed is on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art through February 24.