Monuments of the early church . to bepresumed that lamps of this sort were for the ^^^^^^^^ •* most part intended merely ^^1^^^^^ ^^^ for household use. They ^^^»h. *^ show the elaborate art,or artifice, which was em-ployed to adapt Christian ^^^- 151 — Terra-cotta lamp representing a martyrJ1 1 IT, exposed to a lion. themes and symbols to decorative ends; and they help us in some measure to picture the great chandeliers of gold and silver which decorated the churches. It is, however, a far cry from these little bronze lamps tothe costly works of art which have perished and are commem-orated o
Monuments of the early church . to bepresumed that lamps of this sort were for the ^^^^^^^^ •* most part intended merely ^^1^^^^^ ^^^ for household use. They ^^^»h. *^ show the elaborate art,or artifice, which was em-ployed to adapt Christian ^^^- 151 — Terra-cotta lamp representing a martyrJ1 1 IT, exposed to a lion. themes and symbols to decorative ends; and they help us in some measure to picture the great chandeliers of gold and silver which decorated the churches. It is, however, a far cry from these little bronze lamps tothe costly works of art which have perished and are commem-orated only by the texts. No other elements of early churchdecoration and furnishing give such an impression of luxuryand magnificence as the devices for artificial illumination whichare described in early texts. It is by no means easy to re-construct the various forms of chandelier which are brieflyenumerated in the Ponfifimlh. The names by whichthey are denoted give no certain idea of their character, and 350 JllXOli AETS. Fig. 152. — Terra-cotta lamp. the Classical analogies — the bronze and silver chandeliersfound at Pompeii — represent only very inadequately the moresumptuous works which are here indicated. Of the great co-)ona with its pendent lamps which illuminated the church ofS. Felix at Nola, Paulinus gives an enthusiastic and detaileddescription; yet the reconstructions of it are insecure and con-tradictory. This coronaapparently encircled agreat cross, and both sup-ported pendent fresco in the cata-combs (Fig. 83) showshow the cross was usedin the fifth century tosupport lamps or candles. In the fourth century, when thecross was not yet represented in realistic form, the Constan-tinian monogram was used in the same way, as is shown bya monument preserved in the Vatican Museum. Lamps in theform of a fish must have been more common than existing monu-ments would lead us to suppose (see the clay fish represented inFig. 152) ; many of the pendent
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectchristi, bookyear1901
