The Gloucester Candlestick is an elaborately decorated English Romanesque gilt-bronze

candlestick A candlestick is a device used to hold a candle in place. Candlesticks have a cup or a spike ("pricket") or both to keep the candle in place. Candlesticks are less frequently called "candleholders". Before the proliferation of electricity, candl ...

, now in the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

in London. It was made for

Gloucester Cathedral Gloucester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Peter and the Holy and Indivisible Trinity, in Gloucester, England, stands in the north of the city near the River Severn. It originated with the establishment of a minster dedicated to ...

between 1104 and 1113, and is one of the outstanding survivals of English Romanesque metalwork.

Description

The candlestick was first modelled in wax, then cast in the "lost wax" technique in three sections. The metal is

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids suc ...

in an unusual mixture of copper, zinc, tin, lead, nickel, iron, antimony, and arsenic with an unusually large amount of silver - between 22.5% in the base and 5.76% in the pan below the candle. The proportions of this mixture may suggest that the candlestick was made from a hoard of old coins. The candlestick was gilded by

fire-gilding Gilding is a decorative technique for applying a very thin coating of gold over solid surfaces such as metal (most common), wood, porcelain, or stone. A gilded object is also described as "gilt". Where metal is gilded, the metal below was tra ...

, with elements in

niello Niello is a black mixture, usually of sulphur, copper, silver, and lead, used as an inlay on engraved or etched metal, especially silver. It is added as a powder or paste, then fired until it melts or at least softens, and flows or is pushed ...

d silver added, engraving, and tiny dark glass eyes inset on some of the figures. The candlestick is densely decorated with an

openwork Openwork or open-work is a term in art history, architecture and related fields for any technique that produces decoration by creating holes, piercings, or gaps that go right through a solid material such as metal, wood, stone, pottery, cloth, l ...

composition of human figures, apes and fabulous beasts interspersed between thick intertwined shoots of foliage. Three long-eared dragons with outspread wings form the supporting feet; the symbols of the Four Evangelists are in medallions on the knop. This type of decoration was common to northern European art of this date but the style here is closely related to contemporary English

illuminated manuscript An illuminated manuscript is a formally prepared document where the text is often supplemented with flourishes such as borders and miniature illustrations. Often used in the Roman Catholic Church for prayers, liturgical services and psalms, th ...

s, indicating that, despite German influences, this piece was made in England, possibly in

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of t ...

, or by a craftsman who travelled to perform commissions. He may not have worked exclusively in metal, and may well have been a layman. It has similarities to a pair of

Ottonian The Ottonian dynasty (german: Ottonen) was a Saxon dynasty of German monarchs (919–1024), named after three of its kings and Holy Roman Emperors named Otto, especially its first Emperor Otto I. It is also known as the Saxon dynasty after the ...

candlesticks at

Hildesheim Hildesheim (; nds, Hilmessen, Hilmssen; la, Hildesia) is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany with 101,693 inhabitants. It is in the district of Hildesheim, about southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, a small tributary of the ...

which were commissioned by Bishop Bernward of Hildesheim, bishop from 993 until his death in 1022.Kennedy The decoration has been interpreted as a struggle between the forces of good and evil, and has speech and silence as a theme, with some of the figures placing hands over the mouths of others. An inscription round the outside of the drip pan reads "+ lvcis.on svirtvtis opvs doctrina refvlgens / predicat vt vicio non tenebretvr homo" ("This flood of light, this work of virtue, bright with holy doctrine instructs us, so that Man shall not be benighted in vice"), and some figures are crawling up through the decoration, towards the light, while others are making away from it downwards. There are three inscriptions in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

. The one on the stem, above and below the central knop (or knob) refers to the donation of the candlestick and reads: 'The gentle devotion of abbot Peter and his gentle flock gave me to the church of St Peter at Gloucester' ("+ abbatis.petri.gregis / et:devotio.mitis/ + me dedit:ecclesie: / sci:petri:gloecestre"). Peter was

Abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. Th ...

of the

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

monastery of St Peter, now

, from 1104 until his death in 1113. By perhaps the late 12th century, the candlestick was in

Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le ...

, where an inscription added round the inside of the drip pan records its donation to

Le Mans Cathedral Le Mans Cathedral ( French: ''Cathédrale St-Julien du Mans'') is a Catholic church situated in Le Mans, France. The cathedral is dedicated to Saint Julian of Le Mans, the city's first bishop, who established Christianity in the area around th ...

: "hoc cenomannensis res ecclesie pociensis / thomas ditavit cvm sol annvm renovavit" ("Thomas of Poché gave this object to the church of Le Mans when the sun renewed the year"). It is next recorded in a private collection there in 1856. The Candlestick was acquired by the Victoria and Albert Museum at an auction in Paris of the collection of Prince Pierre Soltikoff in 1861.Noel Stratford in Zarnecki, p. 245; Kennedy The Gloucester candlestick, as well as the

, are prominently featured in the novel '' The Children's Book'' (2009) by

A. S. Byatt Dame Antonia Susan Duffy ( Drabble; born 24 August 1936), known professionally by her former marriage name as A. S. Byatt ( ), is an English critic, novelist, poet and short story writer. Her books have been widely translated, into more than t ...

. File:VA23Oct10 116-crop.jpg, Detail of bowl File:VA23Oct10 185-crop.jpg, Detail of knop

Notes

References

* Kennedy, Kirstin, "Gloucester Candlestick."

Grove Art Online ''Grove Art Online'' is the online edition of ''The Dictionary of Art'', often referred to as the ''Grove Dictionary of Art'', and part of Oxford Art Online, an internet gateway to online art reference publications of Oxford University Press, ...

, Oxford Art Online, Oxford University Press, accessed February 22, 2013
subscriber link
*Zarnecki, George and others (entry by Noel Stratford), ''English Romanesque Art, 1066-1200'', no. 247, 1984, Arts Council of Great Britain,

External links

V&A web feature
with many images and bibliography {{commons category Collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum Romanesque art Bronzeware Candles Medieval European metalwork objects

Description

Notes

References

Further reading

External links