Chandelier with eighteen branches. Brass. Netherlands, c. 1475 - 1485. For three centuries this chandelier lay buried in the ground near St James's Church in The Hague. Hidden there in the 16th century to save it from plunderers, it was discovered by chance in 1857. The centre of the chandelier consists of a Gothic baldachin containing a figure of the Virgin Mary with the Child on her arm. Surrounded by a mandorla, she stands on a crescent moon, a symbol of her chastity. The chandelier has undergone various restorations. The topmost part, composed of six rods, was added in 1979. The original spire has disappeared.