Archaeologia Adriatica, Vol. 13 No. 1, 2019.
Pregledni rad
https://doi.org/10.15291/archeo.3301
Early Christian Glass Lamps
Petra Nikolić
orcid.org/0000-0001-7544-2151
Sažetak
Glass lamps are important element of Early Christian material culture. They are almost inevitable part of liturgical furnishings of church interiors from the second half of the fourth century onwards. Their significance is attested by numerous historical sources and visual depictions. They are common find in the churches and necropolae where they can have simbolic meaning also. Their typology can be divided into five basic forms: cup/bowls (Uboldi I), conical lamps (Uboldi II), lamps with base knob (Uboldi III), funnel-shaped lamps (Uboldi IV), chalice-shaped lamps (Uboldi V), mostly dated from the end of the 4th century to the 8th century. Glass lamps consisted of glass vessels filled with water and oil layer with a floating wick which could be made of flax or cotton fibres or obtained from some other plant fibres. They represented a technological advancement in comparison to clay and metal oil lamps since oil and water, together with transparent vessel, enabled much stronger light with the same amount of oil used. In addition to glass parts, elements of lighting device also comprised wick holders and metal elements (monocandela and polycandela) that enabled suspension of lamps.
Ključne riječi
Early Christian glass lamps; wick holders; polycandela; monocandela
Hrčak ID:
256402
URI
Datum izdavanja:
22.4.2021.
Posjeta: 1.231 *