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| View Original: | Byzantine - Polycandelion with Glass Lamps - Walters 542466 - View A.jpg (1488x1799) | |||
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| Keywords: Byzantine - Polycandelion with Glass Lamps - Walters 542466 - View A.jpg 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 century 6 8 Late Antique bronze with traces of enamel or glass 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 cm 41 ; H of each lamp ranges from 4 5/8 to 5 5/16 in 11 7 to 13 5 cm ; Diam of lamp cm 9 6 ; H of lamp stem cm 5 9 accession number 54 2466 21719 Heidi Vollmoeler Zurich by purchase Walters Art Museum 1965 by purchase Museum purchase 1965 3000 Years of Glass Treasures from The Walters Art Gallery The Walters Art Gallery Baltimore 1982 Lighting in Early Byzantium Dumbarton Oaks Washington 1984-1985 place of origin Eastern Mediterranean Walters Art Museum license Polycandela Decorative and applied arts of Byzantine Empire Byzantine and Early Russian art in the Walters Art Museum | ||||
