Church murals or church wall paintings are mostly medieval paintings found in several Swedish churches. They usually adorn the vaults or walls of the buildings. 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. The earliest church murals in Sweden date from the first decades of the 12th century and are Romanesque in style. 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. They all have certain iconographic similarities, and for the most part, show stylistic influences from contemporary art in what is now Germany. 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. 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. 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. The earliest known names of the artists date from this time.
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. These Late Gothic murals are more variegated than the earlier Gothic paintings, and decoration was more profuse. They tend to cover the entire wall surface. There is also a shift towards more narrative painting, with more frequent inclusion of didactic and moralising subjects. The iconography, on the whole, is more fragmented and the paintings are often completed with much less of an overarching principle. A number of artists and workshops from the late Middle Ages are known by name, above all Albertus Pictor. The workshops typically consisted of three people, including the master; painting work was performed only during the summer months. They used a variety of pigments, and the palette of the artists expanded as the Middle Ages progressed. 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. Many of them have later been uncovered and restored, in particular in the 20th century. Today there are a large number of church murals in Sweden, compared to other European countries. The Swedish History Museum describes them as a "unique treasure".
History Romanesque murals
The oldest existing church murals in Sweden date from the first decades of the 12th century. They are in a Romanesque style, which was the dominant style until the middle of the 13th century. No set of Romanesque murals has been preserved intact; some have been altered or restored at later dates, while some have faded significantly. In many cases, only fragments remain. The largest number of surviving Romanesque murals are found in the southern provinces. Remains exist in about 50 churches in Scania, making it the principal province for surviving Romanesque church murals. Most other murals are spread out over the rest of Götaland. The only known Romanesque murals north of Lake Mälaren are in in Västmanland. 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 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. 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. Romanesque murals in Swedish churches have been described as generally of high quality and comparable with contemporary European murals.
Romanesque murals in Sweden were always composed in a similar way. The apse of the church is without exception decorated with a depiction of Christ in Majesty surrounded by a mandorla. Well-preserved examples exist in Hästveda Church, Lackalänga Church and Övraby Church. Christ is flanked by the symbols of the Four Evangelists. Depictions of Cain and Abel were sometimes painted on the arch of the apse, and sometimes on the chancel arch (facing the nave), or on the underside of the chancel arch. The chancel arch could also contain images of saints or donor portraits, and sometimes a depiction of the Passion was painted above the arch. The south wall of the nave was sometimes decorated with scenes from the Old Testament, while the north wall was decorated with scenes from the New Testament.
The first murals were painted by foreign artists, but with time local artists also started to produce them. Those in Vä are probably the oldest ( 1120–1130), and also some of the most extensive and well-preserved intact sets of Romanesque murals in Sweden. Their style is Italo-Byzantine, similar to other European murals from the first half of the 12th century, particularly those in near Hanover in north-western Germany. For the most part, for example in the well-preserved murals in Bjäresjö Church, stylistic influences came from Germany. In some cases, they may be discernible from France (Knislinge Church and ) as well as (possibly) Lombardy (Vinslöv Church). A few early murals in churches on Gotland are of a Russo-Byzantine style; of these the paintings in Garde Church ( 1200) are the best preserved.
Early and High Gothic murals
A stylistic change from what is generally known as Romanesque art to Gothic art took place 1250 in Sweden. The period between approximately 1250 and 1300 is sometimes referred to as Early Gothic while that from 1300 to 1380 as High Gothic. In broad terms, the iconography of the murals remained similar. Some changes did however occur in the choice of subject matter.
During the 13th century, as the veneration of Mary grew stronger, Marian themes became more popular subjects. For example, the Coronation of the Virgin became more frequent. During the 14th century, a greater interest in Christian mysticism can also be seen in the choice of subject matter (e.g. the Mass of Saint Gregory), paired with a shift in focus from representing Christ as triumphant to representations of his suffering during the Passion. Purely decorative paintings also appear during the period.
Stylistically, the Early and High Gothic period marks a shift towards a lighter scale of colours. The paintings no longer cover entire surfaces, as in the Romaneqsue period, but instead stand out against the white background of the walls. New opportunities for decorations were provided when wooden church ceilings and barrel vaults began to be replaced by groin vaults made of bricks or stone. The earliest of these are purely decorative, with no figurative representations. The stylistic influences came, by and large, from Westphalia and Saxony, often transmitted via Lübeck. A large number of both Early and High Gothic church murals can be found in the churches on Gotland, which experienced a period of economic growth in 1250–1350, and in Scania, where many older churches were rebuilt and equipped with brick vaults in the 14th century. In many murals on Gotland, e.g. those in Vamlingbo Church, a particularly strong influence from Westphalian contemporary art, Byzantinesque in style, has been noted. Although both Early and High Gothic murals in Scania remained conservative and stylistically close to Romanesque art, some new subjects, such as the Wheel of Fortune, were introduced. Humans are represented as elongated and swaying, with gently flowing folds in their dress, in contrast to the earlier, more hieratic Romanesque figures. The style of High Gothic murals is generally similar to Early Gothic, but coarser and heavier in execution, as exemplified by the murals in Gothem Church on Gotland.
Late Gothic murals
The vast majority, perhaps as many as 75 percent, of the medieval church murals in Sweden date from the 15th and early 16th centuries. Some of the earliest examples of this Late Gothic style can be found in the chapter house of Vadstena Abbey. These murals were probably painted during the later decades of the 14th century and display both stylistic and iconographic influences from northern Germany, particularly from the painter Master Bertram. It is however mainly the area around Lake Mälaren, particularly Uppland and Västmanland, which sees a dramatic increase in production of church murals between c. 1435 and 1500. Economic development allowed new churches to be built and old ones refurbished; almost all the churches in the region were equipped with brick vaults which were then decorated. Archbishop Jakob Ulvsson (1430s–1521) also encouraged development and his coat of arms is painted in several of the churches. The rate at which churches in the vicinity of Stockholm during the 15th century were decorated with paintings has been described as "epidemic". A substantial number of murals dating from this time can also be found in Väster- and Östergötland, as well as in Scania. Late Gothic murals which are similar to those from the Mälaren region can also be found in Dalarna, Norrland, and also in Finland. The northernmost church with Late Gothic murals is Nederluleå Church in Norrbotten.
During this period, Marian themes became more popular than ever, and also more varied (including representations of the Woman of the Apocalypse and the Hunt for the Unicorn). There was an increase in paintings of saints and their legends. The pictorial programme of the church became more fragmented, and subjects and motifs were more often mixed without a strong overarching principle. Still, some general tendencies can be observed, at least in the churches in Uppland. The choir would often contain scenes from the life of Christ, or Marian subjects. The nave was often decorated with illustrations from the Old Testament, and the often spacious church porches usually contained more profane subjects. Didactic art became more prevalent, as well as moralising subjects – including many depictions of devils in mural art.
On the whole, Late Gothic paintings are more narrative and less decorative than earlier Gothic murals. Humans are depicted more linearly, with sharper contours and more solid volumes, and the ornamentation is more varied, detailed and richer. The entire church, including both the walls and the vaults, was typically decorated. The palette of colours is extended and there is a tendency towards exuberance or gaudiness. Woodcuts and Paupers' Bibles were used as examples by the artists (though pure copies were rare). During this time, influences from Early Netherlandish painting, including attempts at realism and perspective, can be seen in a few of the murals; again probably via German transposition (some of the artists such as Albertus Pictor and were themselves German). On the whole, however, church murals continued to follow a vernacular, decorative style with few elements emerging from the nascent Renaissance in the rest of Europe.
Later decorations, maltreatment and restorations