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Announcer: This is
a Getty podcast.

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[Theme music begins]

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Host: Do you know someone who
lights up every room they’re in?

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What about some-thing?

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Welcome to If Objects Could
Talk, the podcast where art

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and artifacts come alive to
tell their side of the story.

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Today, we hear from something
that knows a thing or two about

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lighting up the room, because
they live on a chandelier.

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[chimes ring]

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[Classical music begins]

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Made in France around 1819,
this chandelier looks like

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an elaborate hot air balloon,
which was actually a new

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technology at this time.

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A big blue orb, slightly
larger than a beach ball and

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painted with stars, sits at
the center of the chandelier.

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Below that is a glass bowl,
which looks sort of like the

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basket of a hot air balloon.

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But instead of holding
passengers, it was designed

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to hold real, live goldfish.

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[water splashes] Imagine
how it would feel to be a

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fish swimming in the sky.
[water dripping]

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But our guest
today isn’t a fish.

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She’s one of six griffins
that sit around the

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center of the blue sphere.

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A griffin is a mythical
creature with the body,

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tail, and hind legs of a
lion, combined with the head,

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wings, and talons of an eagle.

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[wings fly] Talk about
containing multitudes.

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[child says “Wow!”] Griffins
symbolize strength and

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guardianship, and they are often
depicted protecting treasures.

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So it makes sense that our
griffin guards a spectacular

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gold-covered chandelier, and
she has a lot to say about all

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she’s seen on the job and all
she’s helped others to see.

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Griffin: [feminine voice
with French accent speaks]

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Ah, and then there she was,
a little girl hiding in the

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shadows of a grand party.

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Oh, now we are recording?

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Huh, it’s okay you
didn’t get that.

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We’ll revisit it later.
[laughs]

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Oh, in fact, I have enough
exciting memories I can share

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to keep everyone more than
entertained long into the night.

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[bell chimes]

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Now, you might think a griffin
perched on a chandelier

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in the middle of a room
would be used to being

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the center of attention,
but I’m more accustomed to

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watching than being watched.

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Perhaps it is because my
entire chandelier is so

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striking, I barely stand out.

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[Classical music plays]

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Monsieur Galle created me
in his workshop in Paris

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around the year 1819.

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He designed this elaborate
chandelier himself, and he

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tucked me up here around
the middle, facing outward

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with my wings half spread.

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I am made of gilded bronze
[metal tap] which means bronze

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covered in gold in order to be
even more dazzling [twinkling

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sound] and, in the case of a
chandelier, in order to reflect

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and amplify the light, too.

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I am one of six griffins
that encircles the middle.

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Each of us holds a single
candle on our head.

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We are connected to a gilded
bronze ring around the center of

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a blue globe strewn with stars.

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The 12 signs of the
zodiac—Aries, Taurus, Gemini—all

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of them decorate the ring.

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Between us griffins are
arms that hold candles—12

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more candles in all.

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That brings us to, un, deux,
trois… Ah, 18 candles total.

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There are also gilded rooster
heads [rooster crows], leaf

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designs [shuffling], and
eagles [eagle cry]. Strings

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of glass crystals connect the
candle arms to each other.

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[glass chimes] 

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And below all of this
sits a glass bowl, which

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during special occasions
would be filled with water

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so goldfish would swim.
[fish swims and plops] 

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Yes, real fish!

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My creator, Monsieur Galle,
said their continuous

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movement will give agreeable
recreation to the eye.

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[crowd cheers] 
He was right.

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A great excuse to start a
conversation with anyone

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standing next to you, eh?

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“Do you see the fish swimming
in that chandelier?” 

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[changes voice] 
“How peculiar! How grand!” 

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When lit, these candles 
and glittering

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surfaces and crystals and
fish made us look like a small

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moon, or maybe a disco ball.

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But a very fancy one.

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[disco music plays] In
short, we were a lot to look

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at, which is why I myself
was able to hide in plain

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sight within my chandelier.

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Even so, I am spectacular.

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But I am also a little
dangerous, or I was.

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[scary music]

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To make gilded bronze forms
like me, craftsmen would grind

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pure gold into a fine powder
and mix it with mercury to

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form an amalgam, a paste.

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They would then carefully apply
this paste to the surface of

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the bronze, and then—here’s
the daring part—they would heat

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the whole piece over a fire.
[flames roar] 

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The mercury would burn 
away in a

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cloud of toxic fumes.

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Terrifying.

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But what remained fused to
the surface of the bronze

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was a layer of pure gold.

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[bell chimes] The results
looked exactly like solid

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gold: warm, lustrous, catching
every flicker of candlelight.

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It did not tarnish.

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It did not dull.

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It glowed. [hums] 

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Monsieur Galle’s craftsmen 
were extraordinarily

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skilled at this process, and
that is why, 200 years later,

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I still look this magnificent.
[rising piano chords]

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Now, to really understand
me, you need to know

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where I lived, too.

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[Classical music plays]

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Close your eyes and imagine
you are in a grand room

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in a Parisian mansion.

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You stand on a floor of polished
wood covered by an ornate rug.

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The walls are covered
with sculpted wood panels,

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framed paintings, and
mirrors of every size.

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And above you hangs a
chandelier unlike anything

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you have ever seen.

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Do you even notice me, the
griffin, among all this beauty?

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French homes of this period,
the ones that could afford a

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fish chandelier, were called
hôtel particulier, and generally

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laid out in a similar way.

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Part of the home had rooms
arranged in a long line, one

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opening into the next with
tall double doors, like a

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string of elegant pearls.

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You might pass through an
antechamber, then a salon,

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a music room, and then, of
course, the formal dining room.

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[Violin music plays]

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Dinners were quite the
production, and served in the

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French style, or à la française.

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This is when all items of a
course are served on the

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table at the same time.

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Since the items were on display,
the guests could add to their

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plates whichever combination
of dishes they wished.

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It was all to the taste of
the guest, not the chef.

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In the French style, there are
no decorative centerpieces, just

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the food in the middle of the
table, serving as the sustenance

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and as the decoration.
[bells chime] 

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A typical dinner party 
would consist

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of three courses of six
to 25 dishes per course.

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The third course
on these occasions

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would be dessert.

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[crowd murmurs and says “Ooh!”]

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Have you ever been to or
hosted a big holiday dinner?

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Maybe something for
Thanksgiving or a birthday.

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What’s your favorite part?

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Is it the decorations,
the dishes, or the

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delightful desserts?

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[child says “Yummy.”] Do you
serve everything on the table

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all at once, or one course
at a time from the kitchen?

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And does someone put all your
food on your plate, or is dining

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a choose-your-own-adventure
for you, huh?

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[adventurous music
and sword fighting]

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[laughs] Oh, I suppose it
doesn’t matter, as long as the

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food and the company are good.

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Now, where was I?

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Ah, in the dining room.

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[Violin music
plays over chatter]

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I hung at the very center of
the ceiling, the most important

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position in a very important
room, if I do say so myself.

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This also meant I witnessed
everything: every guest who

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entered, every soup slurped,
every dessert admired,

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every secret whispered
behind a painted fan.

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[whispers] I heard it
all.

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Now, what sort of dinner party
stories should I share with you?

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Hmm.

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Once, oh, I saw a very
distinguished gentleman neglect

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to offer to plate the food for a
noble woman seated next to him.

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[group gasps] She was forced
to reach across the table

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and plate the food herself.

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[tearfully] Can you imagine?

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[crowd says “Unbelievable.”]
Well, obviously women can do

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anything, but the rudeness
at such a formal dinner

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was quite the scandal.

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But the story I want to tell
you, oh, the one I think of

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most often, is about a child.

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[children laugh] She was
eight, uh, perhaps nine.

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Is the daughter of a
cousin visiting from Leon.

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She was meant to be
asleep in the nursery

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at the top of the house.

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But how on earth could
she be asleep with such

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lively guests below her?

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The chatter coming up
through the ceiling.

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Oh, for a child lying awake
in the dark, it must have

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sounded like the whole world
was happening without her.

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She tiptoed downstairs,
and no one noticed.

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And why would they?

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20 people, each absorbed
in their own conversation,

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their own glass, their own
reflection in the mirrors.

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The little girl hid behind
a chair, close enough to

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witness everything.

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[crowd chatter]

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And then she saw it!

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A beautiful portion of
mille-feuille, a decadent

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confection made with three
layers of puff pastry, with

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layers of cream in between.

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It was untouched, abandoned.

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00:11:24,750 --> 00:11:28,109
Well, someone must have had
plans to come back for it later.

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00:11:28,869 --> 00:11:34,449
But with no hesitation, the
young girl took it, a small fee

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for the noise keeping her awake.

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While she carefully crept
back up the stairs, she

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looked up and locked eyes
with me, and took in the

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beauty of the old chandelier.

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00:11:50,559 --> 00:11:53,659
This child with her
stolen pastry could

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00:11:53,659 --> 00:11:55,490
just barely see them.

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[dramatic classical music]

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Yes, the fish!

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Small moving shapes of orange
and gold inside a glowing

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00:12:05,469 --> 00:12:08,829
globe suspended in the air
above oblivious adults.

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[dramatic classical music
repeats] I never saw her

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00:12:16,053 --> 00:12:19,399
again, but I will never
forget how she noticed me.

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Next time you are out in a new
place, maybe a museum or a very

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old house or building, take a
moment and look all around you.

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Look at what is covering
the floor or what is

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hanging from the ceiling.

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You might just see something no
one else has noticed in a long

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time and make a gilded bronze
griffin feel special and seen.

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[Theme music begins]

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Host: I hope you enjoyed
learning about gilt

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00:12:54,149 --> 00:12:55,899
bronze and dinner parties.

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Join us next time when
a very timely dragon

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00:13:00,189 --> 00:13:01,739
drops into the studio.

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[deep growl] To see photographs
of the Galle chandelier

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00:13:04,769 --> 00:13:07,479
and a recreation of what it
would’ve looked like with

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fish, visit our website at
Getty dot edu slash ioct.

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00:13:14,119 --> 00:13:16,769
We’ve also got a listening
guide with discussion questions

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and related activities there.

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00:13:19,519 --> 00:13:22,179
This episode was written
by Tocarra Elise and

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00:13:22,180 --> 00:13:23,800
produced by Zoe Goldman.

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00:13:24,569 --> 00:13:26,609
Ronnie Saxon voiced the griffin.

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00:13:27,139 --> 00:13:30,659
Theme music, mixing, and sound
design by Alexandra Kalinowski.

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Christopher Sprinkle
is executive producer.

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00:13:34,220 --> 00:13:37,109
Special thanks to curators
Anne-Lise Desmas and

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00:13:37,110 --> 00:13:39,579
Miriam Schefzyk, as
well as Rebekkah Hart.

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These stories are
historical fiction.

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They’re based on historical
facts and deep research,

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but we’ve filled in the
gaps to make a good story.

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If you have questions about
what you’ve heard, write to us

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at podteam at getty dot edu.

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Catch you next time.