Announcer: This is a Getty podcast.
Lilit Sadoyan: Today we’re exploring
a luxurious French bed from the end of the 18th century.
Welcome to Our Museum Mindfulness Meditation
podcast, or OMMM.
Part art history and part meditation, we use works of
art from the Getty collection as inspiration for mindfulness
and deep reflection.
Hello, I’m Lily Sadoyan.
I’m a longtime meditation practitioner and museum
educator at Getty.
Thanks for joining me as we bring mindfulness out of the
gallery and into our daily lives. Today, we’re exploring
rest and relaxation, inspired by a late 18th-century French
bed called a lit à la polonaise, or a Polish-style bed.
This episode begins with a breathing exercise to help
relax your body and mind.
We’ll then give a bit of history and context for this ornate bed.
We’ll close with a yogic sleep meditation.This series is also
available as an audio podcast.
If you’d like to step away from a screen for a few
minutes, listen on your favorite podcast app. Now,
If you’re ready, let’s jump in.
[Gong chimes and slow, meditative music begins]
Go ahead and find a comfortable meditation posture, whatever
that means for you today.
Maybe you’re sitting, lying down, something that allows
you to feel relaxed yet alert.
And let’s start by taking a few deep breaths
together. In through the nose. [inhales]
Out through the mouth. [exhales]
Deep breath in [inhales]
Deep breath out. [exhales]
Settling with each breath in.
[inhales]
And out. [exhales]
Now let your breathing resume its natural rhythm as
we explore today’s work of art. [Bells chime]
Picture yourself entering a grand
palace or mansion in France in the late 1700s.
You find your way to the bedroom and see a magnificent bed
topped with a grand canopy, its curtains draped elegantly and
then gathered at the four posts.
Resplendent beds such as this one were set into
deep niches in a bedroom.
The combination of the hangings and interior
architecture heightened a sense of theatricality.
In this period, a bed was often the most expensive
item in the home.
Textiles were costly, and the beds were
largely made of fabric.
The size and splendor of the bed demonstrates its owner’s
importance.The extravagant nature of this bed clues us in
to how bedrooms were used and perceived in the 18th century.
Today, bedrooms are often thought of as retreats
or personal havens.
For wealthy Europeans in the 18th century, it was a
new idea to design bedrooms, or chambre à coucher, to
promote a good night’s rest.
But people frequently received and entertained
guests in these rooms, too.
Friends might drop by with a host or hostess still in bed
or getting ready for the day.
People would read books or poems aloud from bed to a
small circle of friends who pulled stools or chairs near.
A bed served as a focal point to intimate social activities.We’re
focused today on a bed that is elaborately draped with blue
and white silk, passementerie, meaning decorative trimmings,
fringes, and tassels, and fluffy white ostrich feathers.
This bed is large.
It’s about the size of a California king bed today, and
it sits high off the ground.
You’d need a special step stool to get into it.
The bed is symmetrical in form.
The headboard and footboard, carved from wood and
gilded, are mirror images of each other, with a tall
bedpost at each corner.
Four curved iron supports run from these bedposts to support
a dome that rises about ten feet off the ground and sits
over the center of the bed.
From this dome, curtains drape down evenly over
the iron supports and are tied at the bedposts.
Each bedpost is topped with a crown of ostrich plumes.
The bed is composed of geometric forms, rectangles and ovals,
carved with classical elements like Corinthian columns.
These design elements are hallmarks of the
neoclassical style.
Neoclassical artists strove to imitate the spirit of the
ancient Greco-Roman tradition.
While this is a French bed, its style is called a lit à la
polonaise, or a Polish-style bed, because the big drapes
reminded the French of Polish dress. Every aspect of this bed
drips with luxury, but perhaps none more than the textiles.
Upholstery on such sumptuous beds, from bed covers to
the canopy, even the fabric on the head and footboards,
was also changed to correspond with the seasons.
Ducks, peacocks, and pheasants decorated the golden-toned
original fabric of this bed.
The same fabric was ordered by Empress Catherine II of
Russia around 1773, perhaps suggesting she also owned
this bed, as records of its original owners have been lost.
Although the fabric on the bed today is a recreation of
18th century fabric, the Getty Museum still preserves some
pieces of the original fabric and passementerie. This bed
frame, too, is a work of art.
In the 18th century, as trends moved towards more visible
woodwork on bed frames, it became important for beds
to showcase the menuisier’s, or the carpenter’s, skill.
The original wooden bed frame here features elaborate
decorations: oak leaf patterns, floral swags, cornucopias
filled with fruit, ribbons, acorns, and laurel wreaths,
all carved by hand.It is an exquisite example of French
menuiserie, or woodwork.
The wooden structure is made of walnut, which has
been gessoed, painted white, and gilded with gold leaf.
Four handles attached to the frame would help to pull the bed
out of the niche to change the sheets and fabric more easily.
On top of the bed frame, below the canopy, sat the mattresses,
perhaps four or more on a single bed, and made from materials
like straw, wool, horsehair, or feathers, sometimes in
combination.Pillows, in this period both squarish
and bolster shaped, rested along the head and foot.
Linen bedsheets and an assortment of blankets
covered the bed when it was time to sleep.
With all its meticulous detail and construction, imagine you
could climb into this bed.
How might you position your body?
What would it feel like to relax into this bed? Let’s
now invite relaxation into our bodies, preparing
ourselves for deep rest.
The following meditation might be best enjoyed in
a reclining position, or what is called Savasana,
corpse pose, in Sanskrit.
I will guide us through a Yoga Nidra, or yogic sleep
meditation, that allows us to move into a deep state of
relaxation while maintaining conscious awareness.
It’s kind of like being in a state between
waking and sleeping.
It is a wonderful way to reduce stress and anxiety,
promoting nervous system regulation, and calmness.
Above all, we can cultivate complete effortlessness
if we allow ourselves.
[Gong rings and meditation music begins]
Take a moment now to set yourself up for restfulness.
Find ease in your body and establish a sense of comfort,
whatever you need today.
If you feel comfortable, I invite you to close your eyes.
Use this time to go inward.In a reclining position,
allow your body to feel supported and comfortable.
Allow your legs to extend, your feet to fall open.
Let your arms rest slightly away from your body to
your sides, palms facing upward.And let’s begin by
taking a few deep breaths together. In through the nose.
[inhales]
Out through the mouth.
[exhales]
Deep inhale. Deep exhale. One more breath in. And out.
Now let your breathing resume its natural rhythm.
No need to force or extend the inhale or exhale.
Just let your body do what it does very naturally.
And I invite you to set an intention for your practice.
Something simple but meaningful to you.
A short phrase stated in the present tense, such as, “I’m
calm” or “I am at ease”.
Silently repeat this intention as if it is
already unfolding. And
now begin to notice how the breath moves in
and out of your body.
What’s the pace like?
Notice the rise and fall of your chest.
Notice how your belly inflates and deflates.
How it swells and subsides,
without forcing anything. Let the breath be effortless.
There’s no need to hold on to any stressors of the day,
any challenges we may be facing;
nowhere else to be, nothing else to do in this moment
but to be here now. Relax your body part by part.
Release any unnecessary points of tension or clenching
by bringing your awareness and your breath to it.
See if you can just let your body melt here. Relax your feet.
Your soles, toes, ankles. Relax your legs.
calves, knees, thighs. Just melting here.
Relax your hips.
Relax your belly.
torso...
chest. Let your heart softly open.
Relax your shoulder blades, shoulders. Relax your neck.
Throat.
Relax your face.
Chin.
Jaw.
lips. The area around your eyes.
The space between your brows.
Your forehead.
Relax your mind.
Feel the whole body together.
Surrender the weight of your body to the surface upon which
you’re resting.
Coming back to your breath,
you can begin to count your breath backwards from
ten to one. Inhale ten; exhale ten.
Inhale nine; exhale nine.
Continuing at your own pace.
[Silence]
If you lose track of your counting, you can always
return to ten and begin again.
[Silence]
And you’re welcome to stay here as long as you’d like.
You can move into restful sleep.
Or if you’re ready to return to your day,
invite some gentle movement into your body. Wiggle your
fingers and toes. Maybe offer yourself a gentle stretch.
Turn over to your right side before sitting up.
And if you’re ready, you can gently blink your eyes open.
Come back to your environment.
[Slow, meditative music plays]
Wherever you are headed next,
let’s carry this sense of ease and restfulness with us.
Notice what feels different, perhaps
subtle, perhaps profound.
What is one quality from this practice, such as
effortlessness, awareness, or softness, that you
might carry with you?
See if you can offer yourself the same gentleness you
experienced here as you move through the rest of your week.
Let’s return to our breath and close our practice
by taking a full deep breath together. Inhale.
And sigh it out. Thank you so much for joining me.
[Meditative music slowly fades out]