Christ is flanked by the symbols of the Four Evangelists. Well-preserved examples exist in Hästveda Church, Lackalänga Church and Övraby Church. The apse of the church is without exception decorated with a depiction of Christ in Majesty surrounded by a mandorla. Romanesque murals in Sweden were always composed in a similar way. Romanesque murals in Swedish churches have been described as generally of high quality and comparable with contemporary European murals. Similarly, Stehag Church contains a donor portrait of King Canute VI and an archbishop, while Gualöv Church contains donor portraits of a knight called Uticus and his wife Hialmswith. The paintings in Vä Church contain donor portraits depicting a Danish king and queen, probably King Niels and Queen Margaret Fredkulla, indicating that the church was commissioned by the royal couple. The expenses connected with decorating a church with murals, and the prevalence of donor portraits in many of the preserved sets of paintings, has led to the assumption that the earliest murals were commissioned by members of the elite. The only known Romanesque murals north of Lake Mälaren are in Romfartuna Church in Västmanland. Most other murals are spread out over the rest of Götaland. Remains exist in about 50 churches in Scania, making it the principal province for surviving Romanesque church murals. The largest number of surviving Romanesque murals are found in the southern provinces. No set of Romanesque murals has been preserved intact some have been altered or restored at later dates, while some have faded significantly. They are in a Romanesque style, which was the dominant style until the middle of the 13th century. The oldest existing church murals in Sweden date from the first decades of the 12th century. The Romanesque murals in Vä Church, possibly the oldest in Sweden, were probably created under royal patronage. The Swedish History Museum describes them as a "unique treasure". Today there is a large number of church murals in Sweden, compared to other European countries. Many of them have later been uncovered and restored, in particular in the 20th century. After the Reformation, new church murals were occasionally still created, but during the late 17th century and in particular, during the 18th and early 19th centuries, most murals were covered with whitewash. They used a variety of pigments, and the palette of the artists expanded as the Middle Ages progressed. The workshops typically consisted of three people, including the master painting work was performed only during the summer months. A number of artists and workshops from the late Middle Ages are known by name, above all Albertus Pictor. The iconography, on the whole, is more fragmented and the paintings are often completed with much less of an overarching principle. There is also a shift towards more narrative painting, with more frequent inclusion of didactic and moralising subjects. They tend to cover the entire wall surface. These Late Gothic murals are more variegated than the earlier Gothic paintings, and decoration was more profuse. Most of the murals date from the 15th and early 16th centuries, when many churches were built or rebuilt, in particular in the provinces around Lake Mälaren. The earliest known names of the artists date from this time. Early and High Gothic murals are preserved, especially on the island of Gotland, where many new churches were built at the time, and in Scania, where many older churches were equipped with new vaults which were then decorated. Around 1250, there was a stylistic shift towards Gothic that saw lighter and more airy compositions and the rising popularity of Marian and Christian mystic motifs. While it is assumed that the artists who painted the murals were well-educated, and the first of them foreigners, virtually nothing is known about their identities. They all have certain iconographic similarities, and for the most part, show stylistic influences from contemporary art in what is now Germany. The majority of these are found in the southern part of Sweden, where they were commissioned by members of the royalty and nobility of the time. The earliest church murals in Sweden date from the first decades of the 12th century and are Romanesque in style. In Swedish they are sometimes referred to as kalkmålningar, literally "lime paintings", since they were often painted using lime as the binding medium for the paint. They usually adorn the vaults or walls of the buildings. Most church murals in Sweden are from this time, and Albertus Pictor the most well-known artist of the time.Ĭhurch murals or church wall paintings are mostly medieval paintings found in several Swedish churches. Jonah being thrown in the sea, late 15th-century mural by Albertus Pictor in Härkeberga Church.
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