Museum Gallery Torches

A set of thick, wrought-iron wall-mounted torches line the corners of the Salle des États, their flickering flames the only light in the darkened gallery after the laser alarm disables the room's artificial illumination. The torch brackets cling to the stone architraves, their wrought-iron arms supporting blackened metal sconces that cradle resinous pitch pine torches. Their smoky light casts wavering shadows across the marble floor, revealing the emptied frame of the Mona Lisa and the grid of motion sensors that now pulses with alarm red.