The imagery and execution of stained glass influenced other kinds of art. The pieces of stained glass are held together by a net of lead.
#MEDIEVAL ART WINDOWS#
Here you can see 13th and 14th century stained glass windows from country churches on Gotland. The same thoughts influenced smaller churches in both town and country. The symbolic soaring of the Gothic style heavenwards is expressed, for example, by the tall stained-glass windows of the cathedrals and the light admitted by them. Stain-glass window from Hablingbo church, Gotland. Close by is a queenly Madonna statue from Gästrikland, originally meant to be placed on an altar. The soldier beneath Olof’s feet represents his killer. This exhibition also includes a standing figure of St Olof, presented by the parish of Frötuna in Uppland. The subject is King Olof of Norway, one of the most popular patron saints in Scandinavia. The figure itself is the work of a 14th century sculptor who was influenced by contemporary German and French art. The rich colouring of this carving has long since faded. Art too was affected, and you have a fine example of this in the figure of St Olof from Gotland. In the cities of Uppsala, Linköping, Växjö and Strängnäs, cathedrals were built or rebuilt in accordance with the new ideals. A new styleĪ new style, Gothic, became paramount in the 13th and 14th centuries.
There is also an ornamental inscription, based on prototypes from Moslem art. An inscription along the top records that there were relics of the saints in the church. The pictures on the left tell the story of the Nativity, while those on the right show the arrest and death of Christ. In the centre we see Christ in Majesty, with images of the Apostles beneath him. It is made of gilt copper on a wooden base and decorated with rock crystals. The front of the altar, referred to as an antemensal, has been dated to the second half of the 12th century. Here you can also study the most magnificent altar and crucifix to have come down to us from the Swedish Middle Ages, from Broddetorp in Västergötland. Catherine is shown trampling underfoot the King of Egypt, who commanded her execution. It was uncommon for female saints to be shown with underlying figures. St Catherine of Alexandria, from a church in Uppland, is of a more unusual kind. The Viklau Madonna represents the contemporary ideal of beauty and is executed in the same style as stone carvings in the great churches of Germany and Francet. The font has a prehistoric pictorial narrative about the heathen Gunnar in the snake pit, now with Christian overtones. These were woven into the new religion, thereby acquiring a different meaning. You can also see a baptismal font made of wood from Jämtland, which has motifs from Old Norse sagas.
The painting on it, showing the Ascension, shows traces of Byzantine influence. A plank from Gotland, in this exhibition comes from a wooden stave church built in the 12th century but was later incorporated in the inner wall of a new church. True to earlier building traditions, many of the oldest churches were of wood. This made the Church a powerful force behind the setting up of art workshops and the importation of art from other countries. The stone sarcophagus was made for Björn, who built the first church at Botkyrka, near Stockholm, in the 12th century.Įvery church had to have a baptismal font, a triumphal crucifix (rood) and carvings of saints. Often their pictorial narratives had to do with the Christian hope of resurrection and eternal life, as in the case of the Botkyrka monument on display here. Life and death were now explained in a new way, and artists portrayed the new themes. You will find the exhibition Medieval Art on the first floor.Ĭhristianity gave the Scandinavians a new world picture.
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