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Source Description
Whether in a church adorned with stained-glass windows or in a space with only small openings in the walls, the light entering from outside would have mingled with flickering oil lamps and candles inside, illuminating some areas of painted or mosaic-clad walls while leaving other spaces dark. Candles were set into candlesticks placed on altars and on the floor supported by holders affixed to columns and wall. Oil lamps could be suspended between the columns lining the nave, or over the altar. This example of a Byzantine chandelier, or "polycandelion" (Greek for "many lights"), made around the seventh century, consists of an openwork bronze disk with holes for seven glass lamps, one in the center and six surrounding it.Referring to the church of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, illuminated with similar hanging lamps, the poet Paul the Silentiary wrote in 563: "No words are sufficient to describe the illumination in the evening. You might say that some nocturnal sun filled the majestic church with its light."
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
21719
label
Polycandelion with Glass Lamps
core
obj
dtoType
object
citationUrl
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
21719
sourceUrl
contentType
object
stage
normalized
title
Polycandelion with Glass Lamps
description
Whether in a church adorned with stained-glass windows or in a space with only small openings in the walls, the light entering from outside would have mingled with flickering oil lamps and candles inside, illuminating some areas of painted or mosaic-clad walls while leaving other spaces dark. Candles were set into candlesticks placed on altars and on the floor supported by holders affixed to columns and wall. Oil lamps could be suspended between the columns lining the nave, or over the altar. This example of a Byzantine chandelier, or "polycandelion" (Greek for "many lights"), made around the seventh century, consists of an openwork bronze disk with holes for seven glass lamps, one in the center and six surrounding it.Referring to the church of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, illuminated with similar hanging lamps, the poet Paul the Silentiary wrote in 563: "No words are sufficient to describe the illumination in the evening. You might say that some nocturnal sun filled the majestic church with its light."
provenance
Heidi Vollmoeler, Zurich, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1965, by purchase.
date
6th-8th century (Late Antique)
citationUrl
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
Metal
lamps
imageCount
1
pageCount
1
source
import
dimensions
units
cm
width
46.9
height
24.6
dimensionsRaw
H of polycandelion with lamps and chain: 18 7/16 x Diam: 9 11/16 in. (46.9 x 24.6 cm); H of chain: 16 1/8 in. (41 cm); H of each lamp ranges from 4 5/8 to 5 5/16 in. ( 11.7 to 13.5 cm); Diam of lamp: 3 3/4 in. (9.6 cm); H of lamp stem: 2 5/16 in. (5.9 cm)
Source extras
cul
Byzantine
med
bronze with traces of enamel or glass
creator_ids
6640
collection_ids
BYZ
exhibition_ids
454
2967
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
13d51ea3a27221a0