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Announcer: This is
a Getty podcast.

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Host: Don’t walk—run!—to
listen to this episode.

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This week, we’re hearing
from a lamp with an unusual

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shape—it’s a pair of feet!

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Welcome to If Objects Could
Talk, a podcast where art

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and artifacts get to leave
the museum vault and tell

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their side of the story.

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Thanks for joining us as we
bring objects into the light!

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Speaking of light: what do you
do when it gets dark outside

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and you need to see inside?

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I bet you just flip
a switch and presto!

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More light!

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But it’s not just the
overhead lights in your home

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that make things brighter.

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It’s the glow of electronic
devices, flashlights powered

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by batteries, streetlights,
car headlights, and the

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brilliant, bright lights
of big city skyscrapers.

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We are rarely ever
truly in the dark.

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In ancient Rome, things
were very different.

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Apart from a big harvest moon
and twinkling stars, the nights

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were very, very dark and all
you had were torches and oil

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lamps to help illuminate it.

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Today’s feet-shaped lamp
was made in Asia Minor

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in the first century CE.

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It’s ok to laugh—he's really
leaning into being the

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clown of the museum vault.

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Feet Lamp: Mi, mi, mi! The
people want to hear from meeee!

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Oh, don’t mind me, just
doing some vocal warmups,

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which is extra important
for a pair of feet.

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You know, it was starting
to seem like I wasn’t going

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to get my turn to share my
story, which would be a shame

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because I’m such a de-LIGHT.

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Get it?

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Because I’m a lamp?

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[laughs] I crack myself up!

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But not too much though!

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I am made out of clay, too much
cracking would be a disaster!

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What was I talking about again?

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Oh, yeah!

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In ancient times there was
no electricity, so lamps

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like me were all the rage!

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[applause]

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Business owners used oil
lamps to light their buildings

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and the nearby streets.

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Noblemen used lamps to
light their paths when

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they were out after dark.

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Soldiers used them to
light military forts.

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But enough about those
ordinary lamps, let's talk

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about how a star was made.

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Get it?

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Because I GLOW like a star?

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Whew, I am so good!

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Ok, picture it: I was nothin’!

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Just a ball of damp clay.

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But then I was pressed into
a mold and I took my shape:

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a pair of sandaled feet.

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I still have all ten of
my toes, even 2000 years

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later, if you're curious.

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Then I was baked in a hot oven
and my soft surface became hard.

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I was ready for action!

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To use me, oil was poured
into holes at the top of my

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feet right where a pair of
ankles would be and the wick

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was placed into an opening
where the big toes touch.

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The wick was usually a bundle
of fibers like linen or

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papyrus twisted together.

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And the oil was usually a
plant oil like olive oil.

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Basically, anything you
might put in a salad dressing

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today could get me going.

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A little flame would race
down the wick and viola!

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Lights on, baby!

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A little bit more dramatic
then just flipping a

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switch, don't you think?

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I'm pretty unique,
as far as lamps go.

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Some lamps were modeled after
animals, people doing silly or

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serious people things, gods and
goddesses, or even funny faces.

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There were lamps shaped like
a foot, but a pair of feet?

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In sandals?

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Like me?

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That's something to be admired.

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And

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if I'm being honest,
laughed at, too.

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[laughter] When my wick was
lit, I looked like someone

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walking on hot coals!

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And you can't see it now
but I used to be glazed red,

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so I really used to glow.

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That glazing process helped
me keep liquids, like oil, in.

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No leaking from me!

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Yeah, I was quite the
way finder as well.

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I had a handle so people could
grab me and do things like

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make their way to the bathroom
in the middle of the night.

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It was in those moments I was
grateful I didn't have a nose.

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Sadly

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my handle has since broken.

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I won't say WHO did it, but
it was someone with two left

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feet and butter fingers.

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I was made in Asia Minor,
which at the time was part

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of the Roman Empire and that
Empire [laughs] was huge!

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Huge I tell ya!

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At its height, around 100
CE, and when I was made, the

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Roman Empire stretched from
Britain in the Northwest

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to Egypt in the Southeast.

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I came from somewhere
in the middle.

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I was kept in a
beautiful domus or house.

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It wasn’t very large,
but it was impeccably

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designed and decorated.

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The home had no
outside-facing windows,

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as to not attract thieves.

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However, it did have a large
atrium, or central indoor

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space, that was open at the
roof to let in light and air.

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My owner, Albus, was a freedman.

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He was once enslaved but was
granted his freedom and made

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a comfortable life for himself
as a vendor of fine goods.

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He then later became a
merchant, supplying goods

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for other vendors’ stores.

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Albus was a modest man and
tried not to call too much

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attention to himself, but every
once in a while he loved to

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have long dinner parties with
friends and business associates.

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Dinner parties were very
popular in ancient Rome.

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They were held in the
triclinium, which translates

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to “three couch room,”
because it had three couches

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arranged in a U-shape.

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While eating, Romans
reclined on these couches.

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They always dined barefoot,
which was so strange to

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me...at least put some
sandals on, ya know?

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Anyway, in the hours that
could pass during a dinner, the

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triclinium could go from full
daylight to complete darkness.

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So, for the latter part
of the meal, lamps lit the

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space, casting a soft glow on
faces, and created short paths

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towards the food and drinks.

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I was kept going and glowing
on a lamp stand until the last

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guest cleared the threshold.

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During one particular dinner
party, the guests were so

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loud that they woke Albus'
seven-year-old son, Rufus.

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Little Rufus promptly
fumbled in the dark house

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in search of his father.

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He used the sound of laughter
and the faint light to find

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his way to the triclinium.

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When Rufus saw his father
reclining, he approached him

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boldly and told him he could
not sleep with all of the noise

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he and his guests were making!

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His father and guests
laughed at his fearlessness.

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A fine example of a free man.

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Albus told Rufus that if he
could not sleep, he should play!

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Albus used my light to
make shadow puppets on

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the wall to the delight
of his son and his guests.

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[cheering]

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Yeah, have you ever done that?

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Used your hands to make
shadow puppets on the wall?

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It’s very easy!

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All you need are your
hands, a wall, and a light.

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Not me though, I am retired!

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A small bedside lamp or
flashlight work great.

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No oil needed!

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Put one hand between the
light and the wall so

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that you can clearly see
the shadow of your hand.

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Now go ahead and
give yourself a wave!

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By changing the shape of
your hand, you can make

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animals, birds, and other
characters come to life.

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How would you make a bunny?

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A bird?

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A dog?

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Now here comes a real
challenge: what about making

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puppets with your feet?

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I bet if you put your
heels together and stuck

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your feet out you could
make a smelly butterfly!

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Albus was incredible at
making shadow puppets.

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Just one bright
idea after another.

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First he made a soaring
eagle, then an angry toad,

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and then a mischievous hare
hopping along the walls!

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The shadow puppets that Albus
created and his accompanying

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noises made them come alive
and delighted his guests.

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All that playing made the
dark evening seem brighter.

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Pretty soon all the guests
were trying their hand,

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literally, at making shadow
puppets, and creating

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stories for one another.

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It was the longest dinner
party Albus ever had.

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But it didn't matter,
the night was brilliant!

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Made even more perfect
with his son by his side.

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After all, Rufus was the
light of his father’s life!

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[Laughs] Get it?

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LIGHT of his life?

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I gotta million of 'em!

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I’ll share more next time.

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Host: I hope you
enjoyed learning about

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Roman homes and lamps!

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Join us next time
when a very fancy cat

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slinks into the studio.

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To see photographs of the
feet lamp and learn more,

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visit our website at Getty
dot edu slash podcasts.

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This episode was written
by Tocarra Elise and

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produced by Zoe Goldman.

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Todd Schick voiced the lamp.

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Theme music, mixing and sound
design by Alexandra Kalinowski.

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Christopher Sprinkle
is executive producer.

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Special thanks to curators
Ken Lapatin and Judith Barr

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and educator Lilit Sadoyan.

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Catch you next time!