The first chandeliers (lat. candelabrum, literally “candle holder”), as hanging lighting devices, made up of a central body from which a variable number of fixed or movable candle holder arms branch off, date back to the ancient world and their presence is well documented in the Etruscan, Roman and Byzantine cultures. These artefacts, originally conceived to illuminate sacred public places, later became very popular and widespread with the advent of Christianity, becoming, especially in the Middle Ages, important functional and symbolic elements often at the center of most cathedrals and churches. Only later, around the 15th century, the chandelier began to appear in the private sphere as a luxury object, exclusive prerogative of important and wealthy families, aimed to affirm their cultural and economic supremacy also through art and decoration of their homes.

 

 

Light plays a central role in Medieval and Renaissance imagery – especially in northern Europe – so it’s not a coincidence that the first domestic chandeliers spread precisely in those areas of the Old Continent and in particular in the Flemish world, typically made of bronze or brass, as widely documented by the great painters of the time too. An emblematic example in this regard is the famous “Portrait of the Arnolfini couple” by Jan van Eyck (1434), in which a rich six-armed brass chandelier hangs from the ceiling in the center of the scene above the heads of the bride and the groom, a true symbol of opulence and wealth.

 

 

At the beginning of the 16th century, the shapes of these domestic chandeliers became increasingly refined and the decoration became richer and richer. To such an extent that the most refined chandeliers were embellished by small sculptures placed at the top of the structure with ornamental and symbolic function as well. The subjects of these sculptures are often figures of saints, angels or even animals such as rampant lions, and in certain sophisticated cases the figure of the Virgin also appears, either in the typically northern European version of the Madonna with rays or in the traditional iconography of the Madonna with Child, as in the case of the artwork presented here.

 

 

The distinguishing feature unequivocally identifying these rare statuettes as unmistakable elements of a chandelier is the hole on the head of the figure, needed for the passage of the vertical rod of the chandelier itself to which the arms are attached. In this case Mary is depicted standing with her right hand closed and stretched forward (perhaps originally designed to hold a scepter) while with her left hand she holds the naked Baby Jesus. The Virgin wears a embroidered tight-fitting dress and a wide and long mantle descending to the ground with articulated folds covering her feet. Her hair is loose and long and on her neck there is a necklace with a pendant.

 

 

Museum specimens comparable to the figure examined here include a Madonna and Child preserved in the Royal Museums of Fine Arts in Brussels, and particularly another Madonna and Child preserved in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam very similar to our Virgin both in size and in formal and stylistic details: the two figures differ slightly only in the decoration of the necklace and the drapery of the mantle, while in other aspects, such as the lines of the Madonna’s face or the pose of the Child, the similarity is so precise that we can guess the two sculptures were made in the same workshop.

 

 

The idea to adorn a functional object such as a chandelier with a decorative statuette depicting the Madonna and Child is a clear sign of an intense feeling of religiosity, particularly felt in the Flemish world of those centuries, in which there was a strong need to demonstrate and cultivate faith even in the domestic context. This explains the presence of a reassuring and protective Marian image, which would have further reinforced the already intense candles’ light with its own spiritual light.

 

 

 

MADONNA WITH CHILD

Brass

Nuremberg

Circa 1500

Cm 8,2 x 7,7 x 24,7 h

 

References: J.Muller, Laiton Dinanderie, MRAH, Brussell 1983, p. 31; O. ter Kuile Koper & Bronze, 1986, no. 69, p. 56.