A COMPREHENSIVE LOOK AT PENDANT LIGHTING: Simpler than a chandelier with its multiple outstretched arms, a pendant is little more than a bulb hidden under a shade swinging on the end of a cord. Yet there's a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and styles for you to choose from. Suspended from ceilings by rods or chains, pendants bring light down to the places we need it, and they do so with attention-grabbing grace we can't help admire, even after the electricity is turned off.