The appellation “Gatchina” is also rightly applied to those charming lamps of which there were so many in the palace. These lamps were similar to bells. They were both very small - holding just one candle - and large like bells, decorated with crystal garlands and reminiscent of chandeliers. These lamps were usually placed in the smaller rooms, for example in the apartments of Paul I and of Maria Fedorovna, and also in the connecting rooms and corridors, and on the stairs, where, because of the constant movement of air, the crystal garlands would swing and produce a soft melodious sound. One of these lamps has been preserved and has served as a model for the whole series of new lamps which today illuminate the vestibules of the palace.


As well as bells, the lamps had other forms: prismatic, or large and circular like military drums, as in the Ante-chamber and the Marble Dining Room. The lamps for the Ante-chamber were brought from Pavlovsk during the war; they were no more than warped frames, but in the Gatchina workshops the staff helped with great pleasure and without payment to restore them and mount the glass pieces. I remember how we hung up these lamps the day before the ceremonial opening of these rooms...