Getty Museum

Chandelier

Date

about 1715

Medium

Gilt bronze

Culture

French

Department

Decorative Arts

Institution

Getty Museum

Broad acanthus leaves, rams' heads, and female masks, motifs commonly found on other objects of the late Baroque period, decorate this massive chandelier.The designer's name is unknown. The chandelier may come from the workshop of André-Charles Boulle, although it does not resemble any models known to have been made by him. Candlelight, along with firelight from the hearth, was the only means of illuminating an interior at night. Chandeliers provided the main source of light for eighteenth-century entertaining rooms. This model would probably have hung in the salon of an aristocratic household.

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