Candles were an essential part of church ritual in the Middle Ages.  The grades of solemnity of feast were actually listed according to the number of candles authorized to be lit. It is no wonder that candlesticks often were prominent elements of church furniture.  Some of the most memorable were made of gold gilt bronze showing fantastic animals within intertwined vines. This image is similar to the great candlestick for Gloucester Cathedral 1107-13, now in the Victoria and Albert Museum; see Peter Lasko Ars Sacra, New Haven, 1996, pls. 199-200.  (Viollet-le-Duc, Mobilier 2:pl.29) back to "worship"