Ecclesia triumphans
On a Romanesque Concordia-Decoration in Bjäresjö Church in Scania
p. 357-384
Note de l’auteur
I would like to thank very much Professor Emerita Jean A. Givens, University of Connecticut, for a thorough reading of the article, suggesting improvements and for linguistic guidance.
Texte intégral
1The parish church in Bjäresjö near Ystad, southernmost in Scania (the southernmost part of modern Sweden) contains a large and very remarkable Romanesque decoration in the barrel-vaulted chancel and apse. It is a Concordia-decoration with an unusual program which I wish to shed light on by examining the iconography and structure of the salvation-historical narrative. Finally, I seek to posit these paintings in a specific historical context and in a particular theological environment. The Bjäresjö paintings that concern us were uncovered and restored in 1852 by Nils Månsson Mandelgren whose watercolours and drawings of the decoration recorded its original state of preservation (Fig. 1).1 Unfortunately, the paintings were heavily repainted in 1892 by local painters, master painter N. Lindgren and his journeyman H.N. Lindström. In turn, new restorations were made in 1948-1949 by O. Owald and by L. Sandberg 1993-1994.2 Although most of the repaintings from 1892 have been removed, the decoration is still strongly marked by its earlier state. The present two-coloured backgrounds were originally painted in ultramarine and malachite, and for the most part, the original quality and character of the figure paintings is visible in only a few scenes.3
2Parts of the original scheme are open to debate. Scholars – including myself – have frequently argued that the apse decoration originally presented the figure of Christ in Majesty and that this iconography was altered only later by the addition of a crucified Christ in front of the enthroned deity (Fig. 2).4 The restorer L. Sandberg also noted “that the figure of Christ [on the cross] has rather worse adhesion than the surrounding surface” and that it has no halo in stucco like all the other holy figures in the decoration.5 That said, it is still possible that the Throne of Grace is an original, early version of the motif. Today, Christ on the cross wears a crown of thorns, yet, Mandelgren indicated a halo on his watercolour of the apse vault.6 An original figure with a halo (in stucco) may have been replaced at a later date by the present figure with a crown of thorns.7 If the position of the enthroned figure’s left hand then changed from being just above the beam of the cross to its present, supporting position, as indicated by Sandberg8, the original theme of the apse vault was certainly a Throne of Grace.9 The left hand of a Christ in Majesty should have held a book supported on his left knee and therefore been in quite another position. In any case, it is very uncertain whether the Holy Ghost has ever been depicted.10
3The enthroned deity in mandorla is accompanied by the four emblems of the evangelists and flanked by the Virgin and John the Baptist. The representation is amplified by borders with medallions (along the edge of the apse vault) and half-medallions (below Christ in Majesty) with persons in half figure, sixteen or seventeen in total.11 These figures may be prophets; one of Mandelgren’s watercolours indicates that there were inscriptions on the inner frame of the medallions.12 On the apse wall one finds a row of apostles, all holding scrolls on several of which remains of inscriptions are seen.13
4It is the decoration in the barrel vault and on the upper part of the walls that has our special interest here. This field is divided in seven zones with an Old Testament series to the south (Fig. 3) and a New Testament series to the north (Fig. 4). In the uppermost zone, between these two series, the Tree of Jesse is depicted, rising from the sleeping figure of Isaj towards west (Fig. 5).14 The Old Testament series covers mainly the period ante Legem, beginning with God’s interrogation of Adam and Eve after their fall and ending with Moses on Mount Sinai, receiving the Tables of Law. Correspondingly, the New Testament series represents the period sub gratia, from the Annunciation to the Ascension of Christ. The Tree of Jesse, then, covers the period sub Lege, but it is also a prophecy of Christ (et egredietur virga de radice Iesse et flos de radice eius ascendet – Isaiah 11, 1), showing a blooming stem with David and Solomon as enthroned kings superseded by Mary and Christ, and with eight prophets in small floral roundels. All the figures carry inscription scrolls, except Christ who holds an open book. Traces of lettering were found by Mandelgren, but they are now all gone.15
5Overall Bjäresjö offers a well-structured Concordia-program with two chronological series of narration, emphasizing both the continuity between the Old and the New Testament and their dichotomy.16 This type of composition points to ancient and famous ancestors: among them first and foremost the old basilicas of Saint Peter and Saint Paul Outside the Walls in Rome which were both probably from early on adorned with chronological series from the Old and New Testament on the long walls of the nave.17 Typological juxtapositions rarely figure in such schemes;18 an exception is Bishop Bernward’s bronze doors in Hildesheim.19 In general, the paintings in Bjäresjö seem to be in line with a lost Carolingian decoration in the palatinate church in Ingelheim, in terms of both the Old and the New Testament cycle.20
6Some juxtapositions in the barrel vault may be read as traditional typologies; for example, Christ’s Baptism is depicted opposite the Crossing of the Red Sea, and Christ’s Ascension opposite Moses Receiving the Tables of Law.21 But otherwise the narratio is focused on a chronological structure with main events emphasizing important phases of salvation history: the first register with the Old Covenant ends with the Flood, the second with the Crossing of the Red Sea, and the third with Moses on Mount Sinai as mentioned.22 The history of Jesus’ childhood occupies the two first zones of the New Testament series and ends with his Baptism, while the third register, as mentioned, shows his Ascension as the last event.
7One aspect of this structure is very conspicuous: The Crucifixion of Christ as well as his martyrdom is not represented at all. The third zone to the north only depicts Easter morning with the Three Holy Women standing at the Grave, now missing because of a new enlarged window, and Christ’s Ascension. It is not easy to explain this suppression of a central part of the salvation history, but it is one of several features that supports the proposition that this Concordia-decoration is not so much about the New Covenant as a fulfilment of the Old, but more about how the Old as well as the New Covenant point toward the Church – Ecclesia – as the institution of salvation on earth after Christ’s glorification.
8To support this proposition, I should first like to focus on two events placed opposite each other: Moses and the Burning Bush in the centre of the second zone to the south (Fig. 6) and the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple to the north (Fig. 7). The later displays a very original iconography. Whereas Mary and Simeon are usually placed opposite on other, for example on either side of an altar, Mary, in this instance, stands behind Simeon, and opposite them Joseph offers two doves on covered hands. More unusual still, the Christ child is not carried by Mary or taken over by Simeon, but he sits on the altar, in a nearly frontal position, finely clad, and with an open book on his left knee, obviously teaching. I am not aware of any other example of such a staging.
9It seems to find its justification in relation to the motif opposite with Moses in a half-kneeling position and with bare feet in front of the Burning Bush on Mount Horeb. The Lord appears in the bush, holding a scroll, of which the inscription unfortunately is no longer legible. During the Middle Ages the Burning Bush became a popular prefiguration of the Virgin giving birth to Christ. But according to Isidore of Seville and his Questions on the Old Testament the Lord’s appearance in the bush signifies that he will reveal himself to the faithful in the Church and nowhere else.23 Thus the Burning Bush becomes a parallel to the teaching Christ Child sitting on the altar in the Temple. Both events point towards Ecclesia as the true and only institution for the communication of Christ’s teaching. Confirming this equation, the transverse axis of the barrel vault decoration runs between the Burning Bush and the Red Sea to the south and between Simeon and the Christ Child in the Presentation to the north.
10Considering the Old Testament zone in its entirety reveals that the Burning Bush is flanked by the Sacrifice of Isaac and the Crossing of the Red Sea (Fig. 3). The Sacrifice is similar to the Burning Bush in that the altar – like the bush – is located in/on a mountain landscape (Fig. 6). According to Genesis Abraham took “his only begotten son Isaac” and went “into the land of vision (in terram Visionis)” according to his offer for a holocaust upon one of the mountains which God showed him (22, 2).24 Peter Comestor tells us that the sacrifice took place on the highest mountain, Moria, in the land of visions25 – that is, according to the Chronicles where Solomon “began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem” (2 Chron. 3, 1). Traditionally, the event is understood as a prefiguration of Jesus’ sacrificial death at Calvary.26 In an ecclesiological perspective, then the event accordingly denotes the Eucharist, a signification which is strengthened by the connection between Mount Moria and the Temple.27
11The Crossing of the Red Sea is an old type of baptism: the evil ones, i.e. the Egyptians, drown in the sea while the good, i.e. the Israelites prevail.28 The depiction clearly shows the two different fates. To the right, the Red Sea rises around the Egyptian army, whose riders are positioned around a large, flat four-wheeled cart, from which one soldier – undoubtedly Pharaoh – crashes headlong into the water.29 To the left stands a preaching Moses with glory, accompanied by an equally glorified Aaron with his hands raised in thanksgiving (?). Both are oriented towards the viewer, and behind them – i.e. on the far left – two more Israelites witness the miracle.30 Together, this register thus shows the Burning Bush, which speaks of Ecclesia as the institution of the true doctrine, flanked by the two sacraments, baptism and eucharist.
12The corresponding zone to the north opens with the Adoration of the Three Holy Kings (Fig. 4). The Virgin Mary is enthroned with the Child on her lap in a church portal, a frame which may emphasize Mary as Ecclesia and the Child as the portal of salvation: “I am the door. By me, if any man enters in, he shall be saved: [...]”. (John 10, 9 – ego sum ostium per me si quis introierit salvabitur).31 Inside the “church” one finds – as mentioned above – the Christ Child being presented to the Temple and teaching from the altar and Christ being baptized in the river of Jordan (Fig. 8). The staging of these two actions is very similar in structure: Simeon and John the Baptist can be considered the two ministers; the Virgin Mary, standing behind Simeon, may represent the Church, while the catechumen or neophyte behind John the Baptist, then, designates a new member of the congregations. Opposite these personifications, we find Joseph offering “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons” at the Presentation (Luke 2, 24 – et ut darent hostiam secundum quod dictum est in lege Domini par turturum aut duos pullos columbarum) and an angel assisting with a cloth or with Christ’s tunic at His baptism.
13In this way, the liturgical and sacramental aspect of the two events is highlighted and on the allegorical level the whole register speaks of the Church, its sacraments and teaching, in much the same way as does its Old Testament counterpart. The idea may be elaborated through the spiritual meaning of Joseph’s offering; according to a well-known homily for Candlemas by Bede the Venerable, the pigeons symbolize the gathering of the community in the church.32 The assisting angel at the Jordan river may also refer to the clothing with white garment in the baptismal liturgy.33 Finally, the three holy kings with their oblations were often placed and understood in a liturgical-sacramental context.34
14Regarding the two uppermost zones the Old Covenant opens with the Fall followed by the Expulsion and ends with Noah’s Ark (Fig. 3). The Fall is combined with the Hearing and Cursing. The Creator stands at the far right at the gate of Paradise and the reading direction is thus from right to left. Adam points to the Tree of Knowledge with the snake while Eve on the other side of the tree raises her left hand to her cheek, most likely as an expression of regret. All three figures hold scrolls whose inscriptions are lost. A tower with a large round arched opening separates the scene from the angel driving Adam and Eve out of Paradise. With its vertical sword, it surely marks the way back to be closed. In his Historia Scholastica, Petrus Comestor compares the Expulsion with the exclusion of the sinners from the church on Ash Wednesday.35
15A slimmer tower sets the final scene where the Lord with a scroll (inscription lost) blesses a completely sealed Ark, possibly with a door in the lower storey.36 Noah’s Ark is loaded with symbolic meaning in the Christian tradition. But continuing the theme of man’s expulsion from Paradise to life on earth and its tribulations, it may very well refer to the Augustinian understanding of the Ark as “a figure of the city of God sojourning in this world; that is to say, of the church, which is rescued by the wood on which hung the Mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus”.37 The potential door symbolizes Christ’s side wound. It marks the entrance to the Church, as it is through the sacraments that flowed from this wound that the believer is consecrated.38
16The narration in the corresponding zone with the New Covenant offers a discourse on the Incarnation (Fig. 4). Facing the Fall, the medieval visitor saw the Annunciation and the Visitation.39 Gabriel to the left stands in front of architecture equal to the “paradise backdrop” behind the Creator at the Fall. The conversation between the angel and the Virgin contrasts that between the Creator and Adam, and Mary stands in the middle of the overall picture field – opposite Adam – as the highest figure of all. To the right, Mary and Elisabeth are seen in intimate embrace. Luke tells us “that when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the infant leaped in her womb”. And she “was filled with the Holy Ghost. And she cried out with a loud voice and said: Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb” (Lk. 1, 41‑42). Opposite one find Eve, who becomes aware of her transgression by the fruit and its consequences.
17The rest of the New Testament zone depicts the events of Christmas night (Fig. 9‑10). Mary, lying on a sloping bed (kline), raises her left hand raised towards the Infant Jesus, who rests in or rather on an altar-like manger. In a Christmas sermon, Gregory the Great interpreted the birth of Jesus in a Eucharistic light: Jesus says of himself: “I am the living bread which came down from heaven” (John 6, 41 – cf. 6, 35) and therefore he was also born in Bethlehem, which means “the house of bread”. He was put in a manger to nourish the sacred beasts, that is, the believers who are to eat his body in the form of the host.40 Indeed, a few representations of the Nativity show the ass and the ox biting into Jesus’ wrap.41 Whether this has been the case in Bjäresjö or not is hard to say. In a segment of heaven above Mary, laudatory angels are seen with a scroll, while a sleeping Joseph with a Jew’s hat sitting on a mound at her foot signifies Judaism that will not see and acknowledge the Saviour’s coming.42 The event contrasts its Old Testament pendant, the Expulsion, which points to the life of sinners outside the Church and its saving sacraments.
18According to Ambrose, the birth of Jesus marks the origin of the Church. On Christmas night, the shepherds began to guard the flock, signifying the priests who care for the congregations. The night in which the shepherds are watching is a picture of the temptations of this world.43 The Annunciation to the Shepherds is depicted as the last episode in the first New Testament zone in Bjäresjö. A great angel with wide wings proclaims the happy message to two shepherds. The front, cloak-dressed figure with partially covered head receives the proclamation with serious calm, while the other shepherd is more agitated, even moved. No animals are seen today and it’s hard to say if there may have been some originally. But the allegorical significance of the scene may well follow Ambrose’s exegesis, with or without a herd, and thus speaks of the Church on its pilgrimage in a world of sin, as does its Old Testament counterpart, Noah’s ark on the waters of the flood.44
19All things considered, the two zones around the Tree of Jesse correspond to one another in an ecclesiological perspective. They speak on the spiritual level about the Church as the saving institution personified by Mary, and about the Church’s life in the world of sin. The central scene is the sacramentally emphasized portrayal of the Nativity, in which Mary, in her relation to the ‘crib altar’, must be seen as a figura of Ecclesia. She is highlighted by the heavenly segment of angels and the transverse axis through this leads to the Lord in the burning bush, both a prefiguring of the Virgin Birth and of the Church as the instrument for the true and saving doctrine.
20The paintings in the two lower zones are damaged by the insertion of newer windows, not least the Old Testament series to the south (Fig. 11). As a consequence, it is now difficult to establish the relations between the two rows of events. To the south, the field west of the large, new window has been completely lost; the image of Rebecca at the Well was painted in 1892. Since the Romanesque window was placed roughly in the middle of the wall, there may have been more than one scene west of this. The two events that fall into the eye between the Crossing of the Red Sea and Moses Receiving the Tables of the Law are the Gathering of Manna and Moses Striking the Rock. In a restoration report Mandelgren mentions a scroll with inscription and a tent, and in a drawing, he outlines some straight and angled lines. Both the Gathering of Manna and the Striking of the Rock are ecclesiological allegories about the sacraments; the manna loaves are certainly images of the sacramental bread, and the water gushing of the rock predicts the water and blood issuing from Christ’s side wound as he hangs on the cross.45
21Opposite one or both of these two possible motifs we find in the New Testament zone to the north the Three Holy Women at the Grave (Fig. 4 and 11). Because of a large, new window, only the three women standing in a tight grouping are preserved; they are depicted beneath the three holy kings coming to the ‘church portal’ with the enthroned Madonna with the Child. According to the Venerable Bede, the three women constitute an example for the faithful going to Communion, the Grave is a symbol of the altar where the sacrament is performed, and their ointment signifies the smell of the good works and the sweetness of the prayers with which one should approach the altar. Likewise, the sacraments of the new law were revealed to the women when the angel rolled the stone, signifying the Old Covenant, away from the grave. For they did not find the dead Christ, on the contrary, the resurrection and eternal life can now be preached to the whole world.46
22Finally, the Ascension depicted in the eastern part of the zone signifies the real foundation of the Church and its dissemination throughout the world (Fig. 4 and 11). Christ hovers front-facing and in full figure just above a hill, a mountain; most likely he formerly held a cross staff in his left hand, while his right hand is lifted in a gesture of parting, which may just as well be understood as a command to mission.47 He is surrounded by Mary and five apostles – the sixth apostle to the left was painted in (?) 1892 in the place where the original Romanesque window sat. In the border above the scene the inscription SALVA//TOR can be read on either side of Christ’s head. The ecclesiological significance of the event is emphasized by Mary standing on the right side of Christ with her hands raised in prayer – as an orant, and most likely with St. Peter as her pendant.48
23In the opposite zone two parts of the original decoration are preserved: on the far left, Moses Receives the Tables of Law and to the right a group of Jews can be seen, all turned to the left, i.e. toward Moses. In the space between, where a now walled window had been inserted in 1698, a picture of the Golden Calf on a high plinth in a mountain landscape was painted in 1892 (Fig. 12). It is possible that this area also originally showed the Golden Calf, for the Jews stand with outstretched hands and one kneels in worship. But the Jews may also represent “the children of Israel”, which “stood at the bottom of the mount” when “the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai” to speak to Moses (Exod. 19, 3, 17 and 20), or “the ancients of Israel” which was allowed to follow a distance up the mountain (Exod. 24, 9 ff.).49 Even so, the distance between Moses on the mountain and the group of Jews seems rather big to be filled in with other Jews. The preserved group then, just beneath Pharaoh’s chariot in the Crossing of the Red Sea, most likely denotes Jewish apostates who worship an idol.
24According to the Venerable Bede, Moses Receiving the Tables of Law offers a prefiguration of Christ’s Ascension. Both the Law and the precepts of the gospel were given on a mountain to signify the exalted matter in both testaments, which are understood only by the most perfect. Therefore, only Moses was called up to the mountain while the people waited below. But while the Law was meant for one nation only, Christ sends the apostles out to all peoples to preach the new message.50 All things considered, the two lower zones thus reference the founding of the Church and its sacraments, and the whole decoration as such speaks of Ecclesia as the saving institution.
25The program continues on the west wall of the choir, where Christ is enthroned over the chancel arch with an inscription scroll (now empty) in each of his raised hands, surrounded by the two forward-leaning princes of apostles with covered hands, St. Peter to the north with key and St. Paul to the south, most likely with codex (Fig. 13). This is a rather unusual and original staging of the so‑called Traditio Legis et clavium-motif. The possible meanings of the Early Christian Traditio Legis motif are heavily debated, as is the significance of the later examples of the theme – from the Carolingian period up to the 13th century.51 But in Bjäresjö the representation is easily understood as a culmination of the narrative of the Church as a learning and saving institution. Notably, Paul with the Law is placed on the right side of Christ: learning more than the petrine primate seems to be the essential issue.52 The motif can be seen as typologically associated with Moses receiving the Tables of Law and also as closely related to the glorification of Christ.53 Armin F. Bergmeier has made the interesting and convincing hypothesis that the motif is rooted in Isaiah’s prophecy of the coming peace kingdom (2, 2‑4), a prophecy understood in the early Christian exegesis as a proclamation of the new law for all peoples and of a messianic age with the reign of Christ.54 Scholars often have connected Traditio Legis with an eschatological or apocalyptic perspective,55 but it more likely represents the present time of the Church.56 There is no sign of a parousia, a Second Coming of Christ, in Bjäresjö Church. Rather, the scene shows that the transfer of the law and the keys has taken place as an investiture of the two princes of apostles, who from then on will guide the Church on its voyage through the salvation history.57 Two additional, non-glorified worshipers behind the apostles probably represent the faithful, the congregations or nations that flow to the mountain of the house of the Lord, i.e. to the Church, to receive its teaching of the new law (cf. Is. 2, 2‑3).58
26Finally, two Psychomachia are depicted in the chancel arch on either side of an enthroned and blessing Christ in a medallion in the top of the arch (Fig. 13 and 14). Each shows a crowned female figure with halo and a long inscription scroll, standing on and piercing a half reclining and bareheaded woman.59 Thus, with overwhelming authority, the virtues of the triumphant Church easily overcome the vices, and to the east of the chancel the glorified and enthroned God appears – as mentioned above – in the apse with his choir of apostles. He is the head of both the struggling and triumphant Church and he raises his right hand in blessing. Perhaps he was from the beginning depicted as the God who has received the sacrifice of the mass, i.e. his crucified Son, and holds it forth as a means of grace for the communicating.60 It would merely emphasize the Church as the administrator of the sacraments.61 All in all, this approach to interpreting the decoration in an ecclesiastical perspective explains many of the significant and peculiar features of the paintings, both the iconography and the structure as a whole.
Dating and context
27Concerning the date of the paintings, the best-preserved parts point to the decades around 1200. They seem to belong to the phase between Romanesque and Gothic, where rich, curved and pleated folds and classicizing tendencies of various kinds prevail. Nicholas of Verdun’s Klosterneuburg altar from about 1180 can be considered the beginning of this period.62 It is not my intention here to thoroughly investigate Bjäresjö’s placement in this stylistic scheme, but I offer a few comparisons. Among these, the early thirteenth century murals from St. Jacob in Grissiano with their curvilinear, figure shaping style.63 Another point of comparison is offered by the contemporary wall-paintings from the Chapterhouse in Sigena (seriously damaged by fire in 1936).64 Strongly influenced by contemporary Byzantine art, Sigena is characterized by a new classicism that may well point to the environment to which Bjäresjö’s paintings also belong.
28Executed by English miniature painters such as the Genesis Initial Master and the Master of the Gothic Majesty who represent the last phase of the decoration of the large Winchester Bible, Sigena is now normally dated between 1170 and 1190.65 General similarities with Bjäresjö can be found, but a more specific comparison can be made with the miniatures of the Speyer Pericopes, dated either 1197-1198 or around 1220.66 Indeed, the Nativity in Bjäresjö with the Virgin on her kline resembles the Dream of the Holy Kings in the Pericopes.67 Also suggestive, is a comparison of the drapery of the Bjäresjö scene with a stucco relief fragment of the same motif from St. Michael in Hildesheim, most likely from the first decade of the thirteenth century.68
29The remarkable decoration in Bjäresjö, then, may very well have been executed during the reign of Andreas Sunesen, archbishop of Lund from 1201 to 1223.69 A very learned person Andreas studied in Paris, perhaps at the school of Saint-Victor, and among other things he wrote a great poem, Hexaëmeron.70 But he was also a practical and energetic man with great interest for pastoral care and for the expansion of the church. Royal chancellor before becoming archbishop, he was in close cooperation with king Valdemar II, whom he crowned as king Christmas Day 1202 at Lund Cathedral. Furthermore, he was bestowed with papal authority by Pope Innocens III, and became papal legate in 1204.71 Finally, he was an important organizer of the Danish mission in the Baltic area.
30Andreas Sunesen’s reign certainly represents an environment, in which a decoration like that in Bjäresjö Church became possible. His Hexaëmeron is not just about the six days of Creation (1.‑3. Song) and the Fall (4. Song) but about the whole history of salvation to the Last Day, framed in terms of man’s condition and position in the world after the Fall (5.‑9. Song) and his redemption by Christ (10.‑12. Song).72 The approach to the matter is scholastic-dogmatic; built on an Augustinian foundation, its thinking is Trinitarian. Significantly, in connection with man’s creation Andreas offers a longer digression about the nature of the Trinity (2.‑3. Song, v. 768-1415), and already at the beginning of creation, the Father is associated with fullness of power, the Son with wisdom, and the Holy Spirit with goodness. This tripartition can be transferred to the decoration in Bjäresjö Church. The Father’s power is shown to the south, the Son’s wisdom to the north, and the Tree of Jesse, then, represents the goodness of the Holy Spirit which shall rest upon the flower of this root. The seven gifts of this Spirit are: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord (cf. Is. 11, 2‑3). The seven doves of the Holy Spirit are not depicted in Bjäresjö, but – as noticed above – there are seven figures, with inscriptions now lost, in the border at the edge of the apse vault, i.e. just beneath the enthroned figure of Christ closing the Tree of Jesse.
31Although nothing certain can be said about a relation between the archbishop and Bjäresjö Church, we know that the church was built close to a manor, Berghusa, which was renewed at the same time, in the same building material as the church, and that dominated the village.73 A distinguished building of cut sandstone and with Lombard bands and other ornaments, the choir of the church dates to around 1150, the nave perhaps a little later (Fig. 15).74 A broad, western tower, now lost, with a barrel-vaulted room below and a gallery above for mighty persons was added, most likely in the thirteenth century.75 Its dating is very uncertain and the possibility therefore exists that its construction was contemporary with the decoration of the choir’s barrel vault. In the decades around 1200 the church also received a baptismal font with a theologically very interesting program.76
32We do not know the owners of the manor around 1200, but both the Romanesque decoration and the font indicate a close relationship with an ecclesiastical environment.77 It’s worth noting that the church was dedicated to St. Lawrence, the patron saint of the cathedral in Lund. And in the second quarter of fourteenth century the vaults in the nave of the church were decorated with murals by a workshop also working in the parish churches of Borrby, Stora Köpinge and Snårestad in Scania, all three churches belonging to the episcopal see or cathedral chapter in Lund.78 Furthermore, the owner then of Bjärsöholm, Ingemar Karlsen (Thott), was in the service of the archbishop.79 Finally, there are also traces of property under the archdiocese in Bjäresjö, namely four farms, listed in 1546 under Näsbyholm county.80
33Thus, several things suggest that there may have been close links between Bjäresjö and Lund, and that the unusual decoration – as well as the unusual baptismal font – may well spring from Anders Sunessen’s theological universe, his thinking and ecclesiology. And there are several conceivable occasions for such a decoration: the coronation of King Valdemar II in the cathedral 1202 and the IV Lateran Council 1215 attended by Anders Sunesen, to name but a few. Whether these hypotheses can find further support through close readings of the theology of the period and not least of Anders Sunesen time must show.81 The important thing here has been to highlight the unusual structure of the decoration, which gives it a prominent place among medieval Concordia-decorations.
Fig. 1 – Bjäresjö Church, chancel, barrel vault, water colour by N.M. Mandelgren (After Mandelgren 1862).

Fig. 2 – Bjäresjö Church, apse vault and wall, Christ in Majesty / Throne of Grace (Photo: Herman Andersson).

Fig. 3 – Bjäresjö Church, chancel, barrel vault to the south, Old Testament series (Photo: Author).

Fig. 4 – Bjäresjö Church, chancel, barrel vault to the north, New Testament series (Photo: Herman Andersson).

Fig. 5 – Bjäresjö Church, chancel, barrel vault, uppermost zone, Tree of Jesse (Photo: Herman Andersson).

Fig. 6 – Bjäresjö Church, chancel, barrel vault, Moses before the Burning Bush and Sacrifice of Isaac (Photo: Author).

Fig. 7 – Bjäresjö Church, chancel, barrel vault, Presentation at the Temple (Photo: Author).

Fig. 8 – Bjäresjö Church, chancel, barrel vault, Baptism of Christ (Photo: Author).

Fig. 9 – Bjäresjö Church, chancel, barrel vault, Nativity (Photo: Author).

Fig. 10 – Bjäresjö Church, chancel, barrel vault, Annunciation to the Shepherds. (Photo: Author).

Fig. 11 – Bjäresjö Church, chancel, barrel vault, drawing of the decoration (© Eva Louise Lillie).

Fig. 12 – Bjäresjö Church, chancel, barrel vault, Moses receiving the Tables of the Law and the Adoration of the Golden Calf (?) (Photo: Author).

Fig. 13 – Bjäresjö Church, chancel, west wall above the arch, Traditio Legis et clavium, and chancel arch, Psychomachia (Photo: Herman Andersson).

Fig. 14 – Bjäresjö Church, chancel arch, south, Psychomachia (Photo: Herman Andersson).

Fig. 15 – Bjäresjö Church, exterior from south‑east (Photo: Author).

Bibliographie
Abreviations
CCSL = Corpus Christianorum Series Latina.
PL = Patrologiae cursus completus, sive Bibliotheca universalis, integra, uniformis, commoda, oeconomica omnium SS. Patrum, Doctorum Scriptorumque ecclesiasticorum […] Series latina, 221 vol., Paris, apud Garnieri fratres et J.P. Migne successores, 1844-1864.
Primary sources
Augustinus 1955 = A. Augustinus, De civitate Dei, B. Dombart, A. Kalb (eds), Turnhout, Brepols,1955 (CCSL 4‑XIV, 1‑2), retrieved on May 5, 2019, https://www.hs-augsburg.de/~harsch/Chronologia/Lspost05/Augustinus/aug_cd00.html.
Augustinus 1979 = A. Augustinus, City of God, M. Dods (transl.), Grand Rapids, Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1979 (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Ser. I‑2), retrieved on May 5, 2019, https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_City_of_God.
Hamman 1962 = A. Hamman (ed.), Le Baptême d’après les Pères de l’Église, Paris, Bernard Grasset, 1962 (Lettres Chrétiennes, 5).
Homiliebok 1971 = Gammelnorsk Homiliebok, E. Gunnes (ed.), Oslo, Universitetsforlaget, 1971.
Prudentius 1949 = Prudentius, Psychomachia, in Prudentius, H.J. Thomson (transl.), London-Cambridge (Mass.), William Heinemann & Cambridge (Mass.), Harvard UP, 1949 (The Loeb Classical Library), I, p. 274‑343.
Prudentius 1953 = Prudentius, Tituli Historiarum (Dittochaeon), in Prudentius, H.J. Thomson (transl.), London-Cambridge (Mass.), William Heinemann & Cambridge (Mass.), Harvard UP, 1953 (The Loeb Classical Library), II, p. 346‑371.
Sunesen 1985 = A. Sunesen, Hexaëmeron, H.D. Schepelern (transl.), Copenhagen, Det Danske Sprog‑ og Litteraturselskab, 1985.
Sunesen 1985-1988 = Andreae Sunonis filii, Hexaemeron, post M. Cl. Gertz, S. Ebbesen, L. Boethius Mortensen (ed.), 1‑2, Hauniae, Det Danske Sprog‑ og Litteraturselskab 1985-1988 (Corpus philosophorum Danicorum Medii Aevi, 11‑1).
Vulgata = Douay-Rheims version: http://www.drbo.org/lvb/> – with English transl.: <http://vulgate.org>, Both websites retrieved on May 5, 2019.
Secondary sources
Ahlstedt Yrlid 1976 = I. Ahlstedt Yrlid, Och i hopp om det eviga livet, Lund, 1976.
Arnulf 1997 = A. Arnulf, Versus Ad Picturas – Studien zur Titulusdichtung als Quellengattung der Kunstgeschichte von der Antike bis zum Hochmittelalter, Munich-Berlin, 1997 (Kunstwissenschaftliche Studien, 72).
Ayres 1974 = L.M. Ayres, The Work of the Morgan Master at Winchester and English Painting of the Early Gothic Period, in Art Bulletin, 56‑2, 1974, p. 201‑223.
Bartholin 1989 = T. Bartholin, Dendrokronologiske undersøgelser af Ystadområdets kirker, in H. Andersson, M. Anglert (eds), By, huvudgård och kyrka – Studier i Ystadområdets medeltid, Stockholm, 1989, p. 211‑219.
Bergmeier 2017 = A.F. Bergmeier, The Traditio Legis in Late Antiquity and Its Afterlives in the Middle Ages, in Gesta, 56‑1, 2017, p. 27‑52.
Boje-Mortensen 1985 = L. Boje-Mortensen, The Sources of Andrew Sunesen’s Hexaëmeron, in Cahiers de l’Institut de Moyen Âge grec et latin, 50, 1985, p. 113‑216.
Bolvig 2000 = A. Bolvig, Kalkmalerier omkring Øresund, Copenhagen, 2000.
Callmer 1992 = J. Callmer, A Contribution to the prehistory and early history of the south Scandinavian manor – The Bjäresjö investigations, in L. Larsson, J. Callmer, B. Stjernquist (eds), The Archaeology of the Cultural Landscape – Field Work and Research in a South Swedish Rural Region, Stockholm, 1992 (Acta Archaeologica Lundensia, Series in 4o, 19), p. 411‑457 and Plates.
Catalogue 1976-1982 = A Catalogue of Wall-Paintings in the Churches of Medieval Denmark 1100-1600 – Scania Halland Blekinge, Knud Banning (ed.), I‑IV, Copenhagen, 1976-1982.
Christe 1976 = Y. Christe, Apocalypse et Traditio Legis, in Römische Quartalschrift für christliche Altertumskunde und Kirchengeschichte, 71, 1976, p. 42‑55.
Ciresi 2003 = L.V. Ciresi, A Liturgical Study of the Shrine of the Three Kings in Cologne, in C. Hourihane (ed.), Objects, Images, and the Word: Art in the Service of the Liturgy, Princeton (NJ), 2003 (Index of Christian Art – Occasional Papers, 6), p. 202‑230.
Couzin 2015 = R. Couzin, The Traditio Legis: Anatomy of an Image, Oxford, 2015.
Davis-Weyer 1961 = C. Davis-Weyer, Das Traditio-Legis-Bild und seine Nachfolge: Studien zur römischen Monumentalmalerei im 4. Jahrhundert, in Münchner Jahrbuch der bildenden Kunst, 3rd ser., 12, 1961, p. 7‑45.
Demus 1968 = O. Demus, Romanische Wandmalerei, Munich, 1968.
Dibelius 1907 = F. Dibelius, Die Bernwardstür zu Hildesheim, Strasbourg, 1907 (Studien zur deutschen Kunstgeschichte, 81).
Fleiner 1996 = C.D. Fleiner, In Honor of Louis the Pious – A Verse Biography by Ermoldus Nigellus (826): An Annotated Translation, University of Virginia, 1996.
Garber 1918 = J.L. Garber, Wirkungen der frühchristlichen Gemäldezyklen der alten Peters‑ und Pauls-Basiliken in Rom, Berlin-Vienna, 1918 (Wiener Kunsthistorische Forschungen, 1).
Gustafsson 1993 = E. Gustafsson, Mandelgren och kyrkorna i Skåne, in Mandelgren i Skåne – Skånes Hembygdsförbunds Årsbok, 1993, p. 42‑77.
Hayes Williams 2000 = J.A. Hayes Williams, The Earliest Dated Tree of Jesse Image: Thematically Reconsidered, in Athanor – Florida State University Art History, 18, 2000, p. 17‑23.
Homburger 1930 = O. Homburger, Kunstgeschichtliche Betrachtung der Handschrift, in K. Preisendanz, O. Homburger (eds), Das Evangelistar des Speyerer Domes – Bilderhandschrift des XII. Jahrhunderts in der Badischen Landesbibliothek Karlsruhe, Leipzig, 1930, p. 1‑55.
Huizinga 1932 = J. Huizinga, Über die Verknüpfung des poetischen mit dem theologischen bei Alanus de Insulis, Amsterdam, 1932 (Mededeelingen der Koniklijke Akademie van Wetenschappen, Afd. Letterkunde 74, Ser. B, 6).
Huskinson 1982 = J.M. Huskinson, Concordia Apostolorum: Christian Propaganda at Rome in the Fourth and Fifth Centuries. A Study in Early Christian Iconography and Iconology, Oxford, 1982 (BAR, International Series, 148).
Hørby 1985 = K. Hørby, Anders Sunesens liv, in S. Ebbesen (ed.), Anders Sunesen – Stormand, Teolog, Administrator, Digter, Copenhagen, 1985, p. 11‑25.
Johannesson 1953 = G. Johannesson, Jordeböcker över Lunds ärkesätes gods vid medeltidens slut: Palteboken och 1522 års uppbördsjordebok, Lund-Copenhagen, 1953 (Skånsk senmedeltid och renässans, 7).
Johnson 1961 = J. R. Johnson, The Tree of Jesse Window of Chartres: Laudes Regiae, in Speculum, 36, 1961, p. 1‑22.
Kaspersen 1976 = S. Kaspersen, Ecclesia triumphans – Om den romanske udsmykning i Bjäresjö kirke, in L. Lillie, M. Thøgersen (eds), Bild och betydelse – Föredrag vid det 4. nordiska symposiet för ikonografiska studier (Kvarnträsk, 19.‑22. augusti 1974), Åbo, 1976, p. 117‑127.
Kaspersen 1985 = S. Kaspersen, Kunst og bevidsthedsformer på Anders Sunesens tid, in S. Ebbesen (ed.), Anders Sunesen – Stormand, Teolog, Administrator, Digter, Copenhagen, 1985, p. 43‑54 + ills.
Kaspersen 1988 = S. Kaspersen, Cotton-Genesis, die Toursbibeln und die Bronzetüren – Vorlage und Aktualität, in M. Gosebruch, F.N. Steigerwald (eds), Bernwardinische Kunst – Bericht über ein wissenschaftliches Symposium in Hildesheim 1984, Göttingen, 1988, p. 79‑103.
Kaspersen 2018 = S. Kaspersen, Iconography and Anthropology: A Reevaluation of the Panofskian Model with an Anthropological Perspective, in L. Liepe (ed.), Locus of Meaning in Medieval Art: Iconography, Iconology and Interpreting the Visual Imagery of the Middle Ages, Exeter, 2018, p. 67‑109.
Kessler 1989 = H.L. Kessler, ‘Caput et speculum omnium ecclesiarum’: Old St. Peter’s and Church Decoration in Medieval Latium, in W. Tronzo (ed.), Italian Church Decoration of the Middle Ages and Early Renaissance: Functions, Forms and Regional Traditions, Bologna, 1989 (Coll. Villa Spelman Colloquia, 1), p. 119‑146 and Ills.
Kessler 2002 = H.L. Kessler, Old St. Peter’s and Church Decoration in Medieval Italy, Spoleto, 2002.
Lammers 1972 = W. Lammers, Ein karolingisches Bildprogramm in der Aula Regia von Ingelheim, in Festschrift für Hermann HeimpeI zum 70. Geburtstag am 19. September 1971, I‑III, Göttingen, 1972 (Veröffentlichungen des Max-Planck-Instituts für Geschichte, 36: 1‑3), III, p. 226‑289.
Liepe 2007 = L. Liepe, Medeltiden, in L. Johannesson (ed.), Konst och Visuell Kultur i Sverige – Före 1809, Stockholm, 2007, p. 41‑134.
Lundberg 1942 = P. Lundberg, La typologie baptismale dans l’ancienne église, Leipzig, 1942 (Acta Seminarii Neotestamentici Upsaliensis, 10).
Mandelgren 1862 = N.M. Mandelgren, Monuments Scandinaves du Moyen Âge avec les Peintures et autres Ornements qui les décorent, Paris, 1862.
Marchesin 2017 = I. Marchesin, L’Arbre & la Colonne – La Porte de Bronze d’Hildesheim, Paris, 2017.
Nordström 1967 = F. Nordström, Johannes visioner av anden, bruden och morgonstjärnan – En studie av dopfunten i Bjäresjö kyrka i Skåne, in S. Karling et al. (eds), Nordisk medeltid – Konsthistoriska studier tillägnade Armin Tuulse, Stockholm, 1967 (Stockholm Studies in History of Art, 13), p. 44‑59.
Norton 2018 = C. Norton, Henry of Blois, St Hugh, and Henry II: the Winchester Bible Reconsidered, in J. Camps, M. Castiñeiras, J. McNeill, R. Plant (eds), Romanesque Patrons and Processes. Design and Instrumentality in the Art and Architecture of Romanesque Europe, London, 2018, p. 117‑141.
Oakeshott 1972 = W. Oakeshott, Sigena: Romanesque Painting in Spain & the Winchester Bible Artists, London, 1972.
Oakeshott 1981 = W. Oakeshott, The Two Winchester Bibles, New York, 1981.
Pedersen 1985 = J. Pedersen, Hexaëmeron i den europæiske tradition og som kristent digterværk, in A. Sunesen, Hexaëmeron, H.D. Schepelern (transl.), Copenhagen, 1985, p. 292‑342.
Preisendanz 1930 = K. Preisendanz, Buchgeschichte der Handschrift, in K. Preisendanz, O. Homburger (eds), Das Evangelistar des Speyerer Domes. Bilderhandschrift des XII. Jahrhunderts in der Badischen Landesbibliothek Karlsruhe, Leipzig, 1930, p. XI‑LX.
Rydbeck 1901-1903 = O. Rydbeck, Romanska målningar i Skånes kyrkor, in Historisk Tidskrift för Skåneland, 1901-1903, p. 113‑149.
Rydbeck 1904 = O. Rydbeck, Medeltida kalkmålningar i Skånes kyrkor, Lund, 1904.
Sandberg 2001 = L. Sandberg, Bjäresjö Church, Skåne. A brief description of the conservation work, in U. Lindborg (ed.), Conservation of Mural Paintings, Stockholm, 2001, p. 36‑38.
Schalling 1936-1937 = E. Schalling, Kyrkogodset i Skåne, Halland och Blekinge under dansk tid: rättshistorisk utredning på offentligt uppdrag, 1‑2, Stockholm, 1936-1937.
Schiller 1966-1991 = G. Schiller, Ikonographie der christlichen Kunst, I‑V, Gütersloh, 1966-1991.
Schorr 1946 = D.C. Schorr, The Iconographic Development of the Presentation in the Temple, in Art Bulletin, 28‑1, 1946, p. 17-32 + Ills.
Skansjö 1986 = S. Skansjö, Från vikingatida stormansgård till renässansslott. Några huvuddrag i Bjersjöholms äldre historia (En arbetsrapport från Kulturlandskapet under 6000 År), Historiska institutionen Lund, 1986.
Skansjö et al. 1989: S. Skansjö, M. Ridersporre, A. Reisnert, Huvudgårdarna i källmaterialet, in H. Andersson, M. Anglert (eds), By, huvudgård och kyrka. Studier i Ystadområdets medeltid, Stockholm, 1989, p. 71‑133.
Skov 1949 = S. Skov, Erkebisp Anders Sunesøn og pavestolen, in Scandia, 19, 1949, p. 169‑195.
Skov 1955 = S. Skov, Anders Sunesøns Hexaëmeron, in Kirkehistoriske Samlinger, Ser. 7, 2, 1955, p. 281‑331.
Söderberg 1951 = B. G. Söderberg, Svenska Kyrkomålningar från Medeltiden, Stockholm, 1951.
Tronzo 1985 = W. Tronzo, The Prestige of St. Peter’s: Observations on the Function of Monumental Narrative Cycles in Italy, in Studies in the History of Art, 16, 1985, p. 93‑112.
Van Dael 1999 = P.C.J. van Dael, Biblical Cycles on Church Walls: Pro Lectione Pictura, in J. den Boeft, M.L. van Poll‑van de Lisdonk (eds), The Impact of Scripture in Early Christianity, Leiden et al., 1999, p. 122‑132.
Von Schlosser 1896 = J. von Schlosser, Quellenbuch zur Kunstgeschichte des abendländischen Mittelalters, Vienna, 1896.
Waetzoldt 1964 = S. Waetzoldt, Die Kopien des 17. Jahrhunderts nach Mosaiken und Wandmalereien in Rom, Vienna-München 1964 (Römische Forschungen der Bibliotheca Hertziana, 18).
Wesenberg 1955 = R. Wesenberg, Bernwardinische Plastik: Zur ottonischen Kunst unter Bischof Bernward von Hildesheim, Berlin, 1955.
Wienberg 1993 = J. Wienberg, Den gotiske labyrint – Middelalderen og kirkerne i Danmark, Stockholm, 1993.
Wolter‑von dem Knesebeck 2003 = H. Wolter‑von dem Knesebeck, Göttliche Weisheit und Heilsgeschichte: Programmstrukturen im Miniaturenschmuck des Evangeliars Heinrichs des Löwen, in I. Baumgärtner (ed.), Helmarshausen Buchkultur und Goldschmiedekunst im Hochmittelalter, Kassel, 2003, p. 147‑162.
Zeit der Staufer 1977 = Zeit der Staufer: Geschichte – Kunst – Kultur, I‑IV, Stuttgart, 1977.
Notes de bas de page
1 Mandelgren 1862, pl. III‑VIII + page with explanations and the Mandelgren Collection.
2 Sandberg 2001.
3 Earlier litt., see Rydbeck 1901-1903, p. 126‑130; Rydbeck 1904, p. 23‑25, 31‑33, 37‑38, 95‑97; Söderberg 1951, p. 62‑64; Ahlstedt Yrlid 1976, p. 86‑88; Kaspersen 1976; Catalogue 1976-1982, II, p. 34‑38 and IV, p. 23‑25; Kaspersen 1985, p. 49‑51; Gustafsson 1993, p. 53, 58‑62; Bolvig 2000, p. 32‑38; Liepe 2007, p. 91‑92.
4 It is usually argued that the Throne of Grace is a secondary representation in which the crucified Christ has been added, for example, in connection with the advent of the Gothic decoration in the vaults of the nave. See, e.g. Catalogue 1976-1982, II, p. 38‑39. The earliest known representation of the motif, a miniature to the prayer Te igitur in a Cambrai missal from about 1120, also has a Christ in Majesty-like iconography – see Schiller 1966-1991, II, p. 134, fig. 413.
5 Sandberg 2001, p. 37.
6 Gustafsson 1993, fig. 27.
7 This modernization may have been made when the nave was vaulted – and it received a Gothic decoration by the so‑called Snårestad workshop – see Catalogue 1976-1982, II, p. 38‑40.
8 Sandberg 2001, p. 37‑38.
9 The deity in that case held the cross from above.
10 According to Sandberg (2001, p. 38) O. Owald (1948-1949) “scraped clear a dove-like outline in the blue background colour” just above the left arm of the cross – see Sandberg fig. 1 (inverted!) or Wienberg 1993, fig. 33. But this unlikely feature was painted over by Sandberg.
11 Mandelgren indicates in a watercolour from 1852 a total of seventeen figures, namely seven medallions plus ten half-medallions and not nine as in the present states – see Gustafsson 1993, fig. 27.
12 Gustafsson 1993, fig. 27. The number here matters: sixteen figures may easily represent the four major and the twelve minor prophets, while seven plus ten figures rather, open up to other possibilities – cf. below.
13 See Mandelgren 1862, pl. VIII and Catalogue 1976-1982, p. 35 – the two centre figures were repainted during the restauration 1892. The remains of inscriptions do not match the Apostles’ Creed; one inscription seemingly speaks of the righteous Lord and His righteous judgment, cf. Mandelgren, pl. VII, 1: IVSTVS·DOMINVS·ET·IVSTA [.]·IVDICIA·EIVS […].
14 From Mandelgren’s watercolour of the barrel vault, it is obvious that the best-preserved parts were the zone at the top with the Tree of Jesse and the two New Testament zones to the north.
15 The scrolls most likely showed the names of the figures. By the first king Mandelgren read: […]//VID.
16 It is worth mentioning that the narrative in all zones goes west to east, which means that the reading direction in the Old Testament scenes is from right to left, while in the New Testament scenes it is more orderly from left to right.
17 About these, their dating, and their successors, see Garber 1918; Waetzoldt 1964; Tronzo 1985; and Kessler 1989 and 2002 with further literature.
18 A few examples can be mentioned: the conjunction of the Crucifixion and the Expulsion from Paradise in the decoration in San Giovanni a Porta Latina, Rome, following the Old St. Peter’s – see Tronzo 1985, p. 108, and the opposing of the Crossing of the Red Sea and the Healing of the Born Blind in Prudentius’ Tituli Historiarum – see Prudentius 1953, p. 350‑351 and 362‑363 and Van Dael 1999, p. 131. For a developed discussion of Prudentius’ tituli and their non-typological character, see Arnulf 1997, p. 67‑109.
19 See e.g. Dibelius 1907, p. 72‑74; Wesenberg 1955, p. 66‑67; Kaspersen 1988 with further literature. See also Marchesin 2017.
20 Known through a poem from 826‑828 by Ermoldus Nigellus to the Emperor Louis – see Schlosser 1896, p. 126‑129. For English translation, see Fleiner 1996, p. 255‑258. A reconstruction of the decoration suggested by Lammers 1972, III, p. 251‑255 + table 1‑2, estimates a root of 16 scenes in each series, but there may well have been (quite a few) more.
21 Cf. below with notes 28 and 50.
22 The seven zones in the barrel vault cannot, for good reasons, correspond to the seven ages that are often assumed in the Middle Ages as a parallel to the seven days of creation, with Augustine as a source among others. But the first register up to the Flood corresponds to the first of these ages.
23 Questiones in Vetus Testamentum – in Exodum, cap. VIII, PL 83, col. 289. See also Glossa Ordinaria, lib. Exodus, cap. III, PL 113, col. 191A‑B.
24 For English translation of this and the following quotes, see the Douay-Rheims version of Vulgata.
25 See Historia Scholastica, PL 198, col. 1104D. It is worth noting that in the paintings from about 1200 in St. Jacob in Grissiano, the walking to the sacrificial site is similarly located in a mountain landscape – see Demus 1968, p. 133, pl. XXXIV.
26 See e.g. Glossa Ordinaria, Lib. Genesis – PL 198, col. 138D-139B.
27 Abraham’s sacrifice is mentioned in the prayer Supra quae in the canon of the mass as one of the God-pleasing sacrifices.
28 See e.g. Ambrosius, De Mysteriis, cap. III, 12 – PL 16, col. 392‑393, or De Sacramentis, lib. I, cap. IV – PL 16, col. 423‑425 and Prudentius 1962, p. 350‑351. See also Hamman (ed.) 1962, p. 40, 161, 208 and Lundberg 1942, p. 116‑145.
29 Notice that the four-wheeled cart is not reproduced in Mandelgren’s watercolour (Fig. 2), where the riders are similarly placed too low in the zone.
30 Unfortunately, it is no longer possible to read what was written on the two scrolls in the scene, that above the Egyptian riders which probably commented on the figure falling backwards into the waters, and that which Moses holds in his left hand.
31 Mary with the Child is placed in a similar setting on the contemporary shrine of the Three Holy Kings at the cathedral in Cologne. See Schiller 1966-1991, I, p. 120, fig. 285‑286, and Ciresi 2003.
32 Homeliae genuinae, lib. I, 18 – PL 94, col. 80 or Homelia I, 18 – CCSL 122, p. 129‑130. This interpretation is reiterated in a Norwegian collection of sermons from about 1200, see Homiliebok, p. 76‑77.
33 See Schiller 1966-1991, I, p. 144, passim.
34 In addition to the shrine of the Three Kings in Cologne, Ciresi 2003, p. 210‑211 refers to the San Vitale mosaics with the Magi on Theodora’s cloak and to the Ratchis-altar in Cividale. In the apse vault of Santa Maria de Taüll the three kings were placed around the epiphany of the enthroned Mary with the Child in radiance. On the pre-apsidal arch Abel offers his sacrificial lamb and he probably had the high priest Melchizedek with bread and wine as his counterpart. At the apex of the arch the Lamb of God appears in a medallion. The decoration, which dates from the twelfth century, has now been moved to the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya in Barcelona. See Schiller 1966-1991, I, p. 116‑117, fig. 274. See also Ciresi’s reference to the medieval Epiphany plays and her citations from the liturgy of the mass on Epiphany (p. 210‑211 and 225, n. 45).
35 PL 198, col. 1075-1076.
36 The current door is not indicated on Mandelgren’s watercolour, where the Ark also has only three floors.
37 The City of God, XV, 26 – se Augustinus 1979, for Latin version Augustinus 1955. In Glossa Ordinaria the Ark is also a prefiguration of the Church – see Lib. Genesis, cap. VI, PL 113, col. 104 ff.
38 Ibid.: “And its having a door made in the side of it certainly signified the wound which was made when the side of the Crucified was pierced with the spear; for by this those who come to Him enter; for thence flowed the sacraments by which those who believe are initiated”. See also Glossa Ordinaria, PL 113, col. 106A.
39 Prudentius 1962, p. 346-347 (I) and p. 358-359 (XXV).
40 Homelia 8, PL 76, col. 1103-1105 – cf. Homeliebok 1971, p. 52. Also Schiller 1966-1991, I, p. 81, 83 and 85‑86 about the sacramental and ecclesiological aspects of the Incarnation.
41 Schiller 1966-1991, I, p. 84‑85.
42 For the different meanings of the Joseph figure, see Schiller 1966-1991, I, p. 83‑84.
43 Expositio in S. Lucam II, 6, 7, PL 15, col. 1571A. Beda continues this exposition of the shepherds in the field, see Homeliae genuine, lib. I, 6, PL 94, col. 34‑35 or Homilia, I, 7, CCSL 122, p. 46‑47. His exegesis is repeated in Gammalnorsk Homiliebok, see Homiliebok 1971, p. 53.
44 It’s worth noting that the slender tower between the Expulsion and Noah’s Ark draws a transverse axis that separates the Shepherds in the field from the Nativity itself. The angel’s wing, however, extends over the sleeping Joseph, and the wider tower, i.e. the paradise gate, behind the angel of expulsion, marks an equally important axis that separates the Nativity with the Shepherds on the Field from the Annunciation and the Visitation.
45 These typologies became well known through Biblia Pauperum and Speculum Humanae Salvationis. See also Glossa Ordinaria, Lib. Exodus, cap. XVI and XVII, PL 113, col. 237C-239A and 241C-242B.
46 Beda, In Luca evangelium expositio, Lib. VI, cap. XXIV, PL 92, col. 622‑623. The exegesis is repeated in Glossa Ordinaria, Evangelium Secundum Lucam, cap. XXIV, PL 114, col. 350.
47 Schiller 1966-1991, III, p. 141ff.
48 Ibid., p. 148, 152‑153 and 159, fig. 499: the Stammheim Missal (about 1160) with Mary, St. Peter and four other apostles.
49 The two rear Jews, on the right, were also painted in 1892, in an area where the original Romanesque window was located.
50 De Tabernaculo et vasis ejus, Lib. I, cap. 1, PL 91, col. 395. The exegesis is repeated in Glossa Ordinaria, Lib. Exodus, cap. XXIV, PL 113, col. 265D. Also Schiller 1966-1991, III, p. 145‑146.
51 For the research history and a discussion of the various aspects of the subject: Bergmeier 2017.
52 The same iconography is known from some early Christian sarcophagi from Ravenna: Couzin 2015, p. 6‑7, fig. 39. See also Huskinson 1982, p. 29‑31.
53 Davis-Weyer 1961, p. 29‑30 and Schiller 1966-1991, III, p. 145‑146 and 204, fig. 581.
54 Bergmeier 2017, espec. p. 38‑42.
55 For a discussion of this question, Couzin 2015, p. 61‑65 and Bergmeier 2017, p. 36 and 49‑50.
56 Christe 1976, p. 44‑49.
57 An early, Carolingian parallel can be seen in the northern apse in St. John in Müstair showing the moment of investiture. Bergmeier 2017, p. 43 and 47, fig. 13.
58 The corresponding motif on the east wall of the chancel, above the arch of apse, is not witnessed by Mandelgren and the extent to which the present scene from 1892 may reflect an original motive is entirely unknown. It shows a half-length figure of Christ with sceptre and orb, flanked by the emblems of St. Matthew and St. John and four other figures with haloes. None of the haloes are in stucco.
59 Mandelgren records a few letters on the scroll to the south.
60 Schiller 1966-1991, II, p. 133‑136, about the origin of the so‑called Throne of Grace and the theological significance of the motif.
61 It may be mentioned that in the preface to Psychomachia, Prudentius calls on Abraham, “who first showed the way of believing” and sacrificed his own son. He has thereby “counselled us to war against the ungodly tribes, […], and shown that we beget no child of wedlock pleasing to God, and whose mother is Virtue, till the spirit, battling valorously, has overcome with great slaughter the monsters in the enslaved heart. […]. Then Christ himself, who is the true priest, born of a Father unutterable and one, bringing food for the blessed victors, will enter the humble abode of the pure heart and give it the privilege of entertaining the Trinity; and then the Spirit, embracing in holy marriage the soul that has long been childless, will make her fertile by the seed eternal, […].” See ed. 1949, I, p. 275, 277.
62 For a discussion of this period, Kaspersen 2018, p. 83‑91.
63 Cf. note 25 above.
64 Demus 1968, p. 166‑169, pl. 181‑183 and Oakeshott 1972.
65 Layres 1974; Oakeshott 1981, espec. p. 68‑87 and Norton 2018 arguing for a sudden break in the illumination in 1185.
66 Preisendanz 1930, p. XVI-XXIV and Harald Wolter-von dem Knesebeck and Ute Obhof, Speyerer Evangelistar – Faksimile und Kommentarband, Luzern 2012 (that I have not had access to). The different dates depend on different understandings of when the founder, ‘custos’ Konrad von Tann ordered the manuscript. According to Preisendanz Konrad may have been custodian at Speyer already 1213 (p. XXIII).
67 Homburger 1930, pl. 13. Ahlstedt Yrlid 1976, p. 86‑88 suggests a link between Helmarshausen and the Bjäresjö-paintings and makes a comparison between slender foliate ornaments in the Gospels of Henry the Lion from about 1188 (cf. Wolter-von dem Knesebeck 2003) and similar foliage in Bjäresjö. But this kind of ornament is also found in the Speyer Pericopes. If one compares the Virgin on her kline in the Gospels with the Nativity in Bjäresjö, it is evident that the mural reflects a slightly later phase of style – see Wolter-von dem Knesebeck 2003, fig. 4.
68 Zeit der Staufer 1977, I, p. 345‑347 (Cat. 464) and II, fig. 267. See also Marchesin 2017, p. 139‑149.
69 Hørby 1985.
70 Sunesen 1985-1988. For a Danish translation, Sunesen 1985.
71 Skov 1949.
72 Pedersen 1955 and Skov 1955. See also Boje-Mortensen 1985.
73 Skansjö 1986, espec. P ‑13 and Skansjö et al. 1989, p. 98‑100, fig. 7. For the long term, see also Callmer 1992, passim, espec. fig. 42, 52 and 60.
74 Wienberg 1993, p. 58‑59 and Bartholin 1989, p. 213 for a dendrochronological dating of the chancel.
75 Wienberg 1993, p. 59 – demolished and replaced with a Neo-Romanesque tower in 1892.
76 Nordström 1967.
77 It can be noted however, that the Psychomachia representations in the chancel arc can also be read into a courtly context, since the virtues of Prudentius are associated with cortezia. Huizinga 1932, p. 67.
78 Schalling 1936, p. 124 and 129, n. 6 (Borrby), 128 and 197 (Store Köpinge), 194‑195 (Snårestad); Johannesson 1953, p. 381‑388, 516 and 551‑552 (Borrby), 406‑409 and 528‑530 (Stora Köpinge), 459‑462 and 550‑551 (Snårestad); and Wienberg 1993, p. 56‑58. Furthermore, it is worth noting that the master of the choir decoration in Bjäresjö also painted murals in Östra Ingelstad Church, and that the patronage right to this church was granted to knight and councilor Niels Høeg Banner (c. 1450-1524) by a bishop in Lund. Catalogue 1976-1982, IV, p. 25 and Schalling 1936, p. 124, n. 2.
79 Kaspersen 1985, p. 50.
80 Skansjö et al. 1989, p. 97‑98.
81 One point could be a deeper analysis of the implications of the Jesse root motif in relation to the coronation 1202. Johnson 1961, Hayes Williams 2000 and Kaspersen 1985, p. 51.
Auteur
Emeritus University of Copenhagen – kasper@hum.ku.dk
Le texte seul est utilisable sous licence Licence OpenEdition Books. Les autres éléments (illustrations, fichiers annexes importés) sont « Tous droits réservés », sauf mention contraire.
Le Thermalisme en Toscane à la fin du Moyen Âge
Les bains siennois de la fin du XIIIe siècle au début du XVIe siècle
Didier Boisseuil
2002
Rome et la Révolution française
La théologie politique et la politique du Saint-Siège devant la Révolution française (1789-1799)
Gérard Pelletier
2004
Sainte-Marie-Majeure
Une basilique de Rome dans l’histoire de la ville et de son église (Ve-XIIIe siècle)
Victor Saxer
2001
Offices et papauté (XIVe-XVIIe siècle)
Charges, hommes, destins
Armand Jamme et Olivier Poncet (dir.)
2005
La politique au naturel
Comportement des hommes politiques et représentations publiques en France et en Italie du XIXe au XXIe siècle
Fabrice D’Almeida
2007
La Réforme en France et en Italie
Contacts, comparaisons et contrastes
Philip Benedict, Silvana Seidel Menchi et Alain Tallon (dir.)
2007
Pratiques sociales et politiques judiciaires dans les villes de l’Occident à la fin du Moyen Âge
Jacques Chiffoleau, Claude Gauvard et Andrea Zorzi (dir.)
2007
Souverain et pontife
Recherches prosopographiques sur la Curie Romaine à l’âge de la Restauration (1814-1846)
Philippe Bountry
2002